Fantasma
by Sparrow-Lover78
Summary: SEQUEL FROM THE COAST OF SPAIN! Jack and Romi return for another adventure. Rated R for sexual situations and some language. READ AND REVIEW!
1. A Certain Golden Crown

The Crown And The Island Of Fantasma  
  
Part 2 from The Coast of Spain  
  
I did research and in the 16 and 1700s Italy did have kings and queens. Just a note.  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from POTC.  
  
Chapter 1- A Certain Golden Crown  
  
It was past midnight and the town of Tortuga was very much awake. The sounds of men fighting and laughing, the women giggling and talking. The streets were filled with these people. Drunks, prostitutes, sailors and pirates. There was one man who sashayed down an oddly empty and dark street with only the moonlight and the lights of nearby taverns to illuminate his way. His hands dangling in a feminine manner as he walked. The several trinkets in his hair and beard bouncing back and forth clicking against each other. His tri-corner hat sat on his dark hair just over his eyes. He stopped and looked up at the moon and the light shone on his handsome face. He grinned and continued on his way. He arrived at a small cottage and knocked on the wooden door. A small old woman appeared as she cracked the door enough to see who was there.  
  
"Who are ye?" She asked with a high pitched annoyed voice.  
  
"I'm looking for Susanna Roth. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." He gave a polite bow.  
  
The woman looked him over. "Captain Sparrow aye?" She opened the door more, turned and walked to a chair near the fireplace. Jack came inside and shut the door behind him. The old woman sat down and motioned for Jack to do the same. "Come, sit."  
  
Jack in the chair across from her.  
  
"So why are ye lookin' for me Captain Sparrow?"  
  
"I heard ye know the whereabouts of a certain golden crown that supposedly once belonged to princess Doria of Italy some 70 years ago."  
  
The woman glared at Jack. "Why do ye be wantin' to know? Hmm? A pirate ye are. All ye want is the crown to keep for ye'r selfish ways. Ye'll probably sell it for a bottle of rum!" Her arms were flying around as she yelled at Jack who just lowered his head and stared at the floor annoyed with this woman and her accusations.  
  
"I need to know because the reigning King Ferdinando wants it back. It belongs to the family."  
  
She didn't believe him. "Why would the King of Italy want a pirate to help him find it?"  
  
"He has sent many of his sailors out to find it and all have come back empty handed. He apparently heard of my travels and reputation of being the best pirate that ever sailed these waters." He gave a smug, quirky grin. "And when I had visited the island of Sicily, he heard that I was there and requested my presence at once. The King wants me to find this crown and return it to him and he will then excuse me of my charges of piracy. Not to mention the hefty reward I'll be getting." He smiled a mouth full of golden teeth.  
  
The woman had calmed down now. "I see. I suppose I should be trustin' ye then Sparrow."  
  
Jack nodded. "I am an honest man Ms. Roth. By the way, if ye are so concerned over this crown why have ye never helped anyone find it?"  
  
She smiled. "Not many people would be so courageous to go where this crown is hidden. A few have come to me many years ago and when I tell them where it is located, they think I've either gone daft or become too frightened to go on the quest. I've 'eard of ye and the things ye have gone through Sparrow. The cursed treasure of Cortez and all."  
  
Jack was very much intrigued at this point. "Where is the crown?"  
  
Susanna leaned in towards Jack and put her hands together as if to pray. "It is hidden on the island called Fantasma."  
  
Jack gave her an incredulous look. "That island is not but a ghost story. Nothin' more than an old legend that doesn't exist."  
  
"This is the reason no one has yet to find the crown of Doria. They dismiss it as a fable. Something that was made up to frighten people. But it is very much real. I have seen it with me own eyes!"  
  
"How do ye know where the crown is?"  
  
Susanna leaned back into her chair and placed her hands on her lap. The flickering of the fire glowed upon her white hair and accented her wrinkled face. "I was a young handmaiden of 15 aboard the ship Doña Anna. Princess Doria was aboard this ship. We had sailed into a fierce storm and the ship had hit a land no one was able to see through the rain and the waves. We had no choice but to stay there till mornin'. Before the sun rose, we looked for Princess Doria but she was nowhere to be found. We searched the island but did not find her. The ship had an enormous hole that was unfixable. With the boats we had we managed to leave the island, but some were left behind to find the princess and bring her home. We sailed for a long time, not knowin' where we were. Finally we made it to Tortuga and as the others left to return to Italy, I stayed 'ere. I 'eard she was never found and the ones that were left to find her, never returned home. They tried findin' the island again but failed to locate its whereabouts."  
  
Jack's eyes were wide. If this was true this woman was 85 years old. She most definitely looked it too. He played around with this information in his mind as he stroked his beard.  
  
"How do ye know where the island is if no one can find it?"  
  
"When I was on that island, and we were searchin' for the princess, I had gotten lost in the thick forest. I 'eard a scream and turned my head to see the princess tied to a wooden pole stuck in the ground." She swallowed hard. "She was so frightened. I saw suddenly there were people around her, but these people, they had no legs. They seemed to be floatin'. She looked at me with wide eyes pleading for me to help her, but by seeing me, one of those things turned and stared straight at me. I looked into cold eyes that seemed to cut off my breathin'. I saw death in those eyes! I managed to break the stare and ran off as fast as I could. I found the others but was so frightened by what I saw I couldn't speak even after we left the island. When we did leave, I stayed awake the entire time, not being able to shut my eyes for the vision of what I saw in those eyes came to me every time I closed them." Her eyes were wide and she pointed to her temple. "The map of the island is ingrained in me head."  
  
Jack felt a cold shudder go down his spine. "Will ye go wit' me then to find this island?"  
  
The old woman laughed. "My dear Captain, I will show you how to get there. No more. No less."  
  
Jack was visibly unnerved by this woman and her tales. But he was Captain Jack Sparrow. The most fearsome pirate that ever did sail. "Alright then, show me how to get there and I will return after finding this crown and give ye a small reward for yer help. Do we have an accord?" He put his hand out to shake on it and the old woman hesitantly took it.  
  
After giving Jack the coordinates he excused himself and left the house. He walked back down the dark street with the old woman staring after him in her doorway for a moment then shut her door.  
  
Jack swayed back down the street though a little less confident this time than when he first did.  
  
He arrived at the port and looked at his grand ship. Ah yes the Black Pearl. He thought about the adventures he has seen with this ship. The crewmates that came and went. He remembered the death of his first mate Joshamee Gibbs. He sighed heavily at that thought. He was a good man. A good pirate. He thought now about the precious treasures his ship held. His beautiful wife Romi and daughter Celeste. Celeste was now 7 and grew more and more lovely everyday. His chest swelled with pride. Will had joined his crew and brought his wife Angela and son Brennan who was 8 years old. Will had wanted to stay with Jack after they found the treasure of Captain Ramos, but with Angela being pregnant, he wanted to wait till his son was old enough. Yes the Black Pearl held many treasures inside and once again she was going to assist Jack in yet another adventure.  
  
HELLO ALL! HOPE YOU LIKE THE FIRST CHAPTER! THERE MAY BE THINGS IN THE STORY THAT YOU WON'T RECOGNIZE UNLESS YOU READ THE COAST OF SPAIN. PLEASE R&R!!!! 


	2. A Bit Dangerous

Chapter 2- A Bit Dangerous  
  
Jack sighed heavily as he began his ascent up the plank to his ship. Most of his crew were out in the town, surely getting drunk and finding pleasurable company for the night. His lookout, a young lad of 20, greeted him as he stepped onto the deck.  
  
"Glad to see ye're back capt'. The missus was askin' why ye took so long."  
  
Jack put his hands on his hips, lowered and shook his head. He looked back up and gave the pirate a small grin. "Thanks for the heads up Kenny. An' heed my warnin'. Don't git married."  
  
The two men laughed together and Jack made his way to his cabin. He cracked the door enough to peer inside and saw that Romi was asleep on their bed. She had left a candle lit for when he returned. Jack smiled and closed the door. He walked to the cabin next to his and opened the door. He stood in the doorway and marveled as his beautiful little princess slept soundly in her bed. Her dark hair that resembled his was becoming lighter like her mother's. Soft curls framed her face and she still had on her red bandanna. She wore that everywhere. He stepped inside and went to kiss her forehead. He stood and looked at her again. A frown came over him suddenly. If the stories of that island are true, he would be putting his family in danger.  
  
He had to make sure that no harm came to Romi and Celeste. He left the room and quietly shut the door, making his way to Will's cabin. He knocked and Will came to the door, he had obviously been asleep.  
  
"Is everything alright Jack?" He asked concerned.  
  
"Everything is fine. I found the old woman we came to see. Come wit' me to the meetin' quarters."  
  
Will let out a yawn. "Sure Jack, let me get dressed and I'll meet you there."  
  
Jack nodded and turned on his heel. Will shut the door and walked over the bed. He shook Angela, who was very much asleep, to awaken her. "What is it Will?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Jack needs to talk to me. I'll be right back." He said as he hurriedly dressed himself.  
  
"Must you go?" She replied a bit irritated.  
  
"Angie I am his first mate. It's my duty."  
  
"Alright. Just hurry back." He bent down to give her a kiss and left the cabin, quietly closing the door behind him.  
  
He arrived at the quarters where Jack was sitting at the large, oval shaped, mahogany table. His feet propped up and his hands behind his head. "Ah William, come sit." He took his feet down and removed his hat and placed it on the table.  
  
Will came over and sat near Jack who now stood leaning over the table where a large map laid. "I found Susanna Roth's cottage. After asking around town only one person 'eard of 'er and directed me to where she lived. After hearin' 'er ghost story, she told me where we need to go to find the crown." "Wonderful! Where will we be heading off to then?" Will asked calmly.  
  
"The island of Fantasma."  
  
Will's face lost its color and he swallowed the lump he felt suddenly at his throat. "Isn't that island supposed to be filled with ghosts?"  
  
Jack looked his first mate over. "Will, I never took ye for a superstitious man."  
  
"Sorry Jack. When I was younger my mother used to tell me the stories that circled that island. Supposedly no one ever got off that island alive, or so the story goes. I guess those childhood emotions came running back." He blinked a few times to get himself back in order.  
  
"Right well, the old woman gave me the coordinates for that island and accordin' to the map, it should be located right about.......'ere." He placed his finger on the map and looked up at Will.  
  
"There's nothing there but ocean for miles in every direction. Are you sure the woman knew what she was talking about?"  
  
"Aye she said it wouldn't show up on the map, but that these are the exact coordinates."  
  
Will shrugged his shoulders. "Alright then. When are we to head out?"  
  
"At dawn. I told me men to be back 'ere before the sun rises. This should be a 2 week sail at the most."  
  
"Did she tell you where the crown was on the island?"  
  
"No. We'll just have to find it ourselves when we get there. I doubt the island is very big."  
  
"True. Alright then, I'll see you in the morning."  
  
Will got up to leave and Jack picked up his hat and went back to his cabin. Once there he began to disrobe, blew out the candle and got in bed. As he propped an arm over Romi, she awoke. Not opening her eyes, she just smiled as she snuggled closer to him. "Missed you Jack."  
  
He kissed the back of her head. "Me too luv."  
  
"Did you find the woman you came here to seek?"  
  
"Aye I did. We'll be sailing in the morn' first thing." After some silence, "Luv?"  
  
"Yes Jack?"  
  
"Do you think it would be wise if you and Celeste didn't go with me on this particular sail?"  
  
Romi turned around and looked at him. "Why?"  
  
Jack flipped onto his back and looked at the ceiling. "I just think it's goin' to be a bit dangerous and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if anything happened to either of ye." He looked at her.  
  
"Jack, I understand your concern. And believe me I won't be putting Celeste in any sort of dangerous situation. But I can't stay away. I'd be thinking that something might happen to you the whole time you're away. I'll go mad!"  
  
Jack turned back on his side and placed a hand on her cheek. "I knew it was foolish of me to even bring it up. Forget I said anything. Let's get some sleep aye?"  
  
"Aye." She bent down to kiss him, and not wanting to stop, relished in the feel of his warm lips against hers. Jack put his arm around her as she lay back down and snuggled against his chest. Romi quickly fell back asleep, but Jack had trouble sleeping, still worried about their journey ahead of them.  
  
AS USUAL READ AND REVIEW!! THANK YOU! 


	3. Setting Sail

THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! AND RebbeccaTurner01, I LOVED YOUR REVIEW! MADE ME LOL. ANYWAY BACK TO THE STORY!!  
  
Chapter 3 - Setting Sail  
  
The sun was yet to rise as it still hid behind the horizon of the ocean. The sky was a mix of blues and had not a visible cloud in sight. Jack's crew were beginning to return to the ship. The lookout boy was to ring the bell once they were all back and when the last drunken pirate made his way on board, Kenny did as he was told.  
  
Inside his cabin, Jack opened his tired eyes. He had tossed and turned all night with thoughts of the island and the crown. Reluctantly he lifted himself off the bed and began to get dressed. He grabbed his hat and other effects and quietly left the room. Romi still slept soundly, not hearing the bell ring.  
  
He made his way onto the deck and found that Will was already there waiting for him.  
  
"Good morning captain."  
  
Jack looked at him through narrow eyes. "Too early to be so cheerful eunuch."  
  
Will rolled his eyes at him. "Will you ever stop referring to me as a eunuch?"  
  
Jack gave him a slight grin. "Maybe. Maybe not. I find it rather amusing."  
  
"What an uncanny sense of humor."  
  
Suddenly, several little footsteps came running behind them. They both turned in time to see Celeste and Brennan hurrying over. Jack scooped up Celeste in his arms. "Well, you're both up mighty early."  
  
Celeste's eyes sparkled. "I heard the bell and I knew we were going to set sail today and I didn't want to miss it."  
  
Will looked at his son who clung to his leg. "You heard the bell too?"  
  
"No Celeste woke me up." He said with excitement in his voice, though he tried to stifle a yawn. His hair was beginning to get curly and looked alot like his father's. Will smiled as he saw so much of himself in his son.  
  
Celeste had on her bandanna, a white shirt and brown pants with some custom made black boots. She hated wearing dresses even though her mother tried her hardest to make her wear them. Her curly brown hair was down to the end of her back. She always loved to help her father in whatever she could manage with the ship, even if they were little things, to her it meant the world. She always said she wanted to be a captain just like her daddy. Romi didn't approve much and always hoped it was just a phase she would grow out of when she grew older. So everyday her mother sits her down and teaches her to read and write, arithmetic and even how to behave in proper society. Celeste was a fast learner and did everything her mother would teach her because she knew it made her happy. She liked to learn too, especially the reading. Her favorite books were, of course, anything that had to do with pirates. Jack put her back down. "Go with Brennan and help Anamaria tie the sails."  
  
Celeste stood tall and put a hand at her forehead as if in attention. "Aye aye Captain." She took Brennan's hand and ran over to the sails. Anamaria had re-joined Jack and his crew 3 years ago after trying to sail on her own for a while. She decided she enjoyed being part of Jack's crew, and was one of the few that had patience to be with the kids.  
  
The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. It was time to set sail. Jack turned to his men.  
  
"Aweigh anchor ye filthy cats, man the braces!"  
  
The crew got busy getting the Black Pearl ready to set sail. Jack took his place at the wheel. He put one hand on the helm and with the other took out his trusty compass. Suddenly he felt arms tangle around his waist. He turned his head enough around to see Romi behind him. He brought her around to face him. She looked up at him. It amazed her how he could still make her feel so alive when she was with him.  
  
"Good morning darling."  
  
"Good morning luv." He bent to kiss her and wrapped his arms around her. His tongue danced across her lips and she obliged.  
  
"Eeeewwww!" Came two little voices behind them. They smiled at each other as they broke the kiss and turned to see the kids still making fun of them. Brennan had his eyes closed and stuck his tongue out turning it over and over. "Kissy kissy."  
  
Celeste looked at her parents and furrowed her eyebrows at them.  
  
Romi kept laughing. "Alright you two come with me to the kitchen so we can make some breakfast." She turned her head and winked at Jack who winked back at her.  
  
The kids followed Romi to the kitchen and Jack went back to standing at the helm. Will approached him. "We're ready to set sail Jack."  
  
"Aye mate."  
  
The Black Pearl sailed into the wide, open spaces of the ocean. It's black sails billowing in the wind. It was indeed a beautiful ship.  
  
Romi rang the bell to let the crew know breakfast was ready. Jack stayed behind, as he usually does, letting his men eat first. Once they finish, he can hand over the helm to Will and eat peacefully.  
  
The crew filled the mess hall and ate hungrily. Angela had awoken and joined Will and the kids at the table. Romi was in the kitchen getting Jack's and her plate ready. She always waited for him to eat.  
  
Once the crew finished, they went back up on deck. Will went to the helm to relieve Jack and the kids were off playing a game. Angela went about doing little things here and there so she could keep an eye on Brennan and Celeste.  
  
Jack walked down into the mess hall where Romi was just placing the food on the table. He took a seat next to her and they began eating and talking. They enjoyed being alone together when they ate.  
  
"So when do you think we will be arriving at this island?" Questioned Romi.  
  
"About 2 weeks. Maybe less if the weather agrees." He picked up his mug and took a big swig of his rum. "When we do reach the island, I want you and Celeste to remain on board. I don't know what's on that island and I would feel better knowing you both were safe on the Pearl savvy?"  
  
Romi gave him an irritated look but agreed. "Yes Jack, I know."  
  
They both finished and took their plates to the kitchen where Sal, the usual cook, was busy cleaning the mess from the crew. Jack followed Romi up the stairs and started playing around with her by smacking her bottom and poking her sides.  
  
"Jack stop that!" She was laughing so hard she could barely make it up the stairs. When they reached the deck, Romi looked at him playfully and made her way to their cabin. She was swaying her hips seductively and looked over at her shoulder at Jack who was staring after her with his mouth open. Even after all these years, she still took his breath away. He glanced over at the helm where Will was still steering the ship and figured he could stay away a few more minutes. Looking back at where Romi was, he saw she had already disappeared into the cabin. He walked to the door and peered in to see she was already busy undressing herself, he walked in and closed the door as he stared hungrily at her. She finished removing her dress and turned around, he was already behind her and she looked up into his deep brown eyes that were staring right into her hazel green ones. His hands went up to her shoulders and gently smoothed them down her arms, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath relishing in the feel of his strong and weathered hands against her skin. Jack took his coat, hat and effects off leaving his white shirt and pants on. He picked up Romi in his arms and laid her on the bed never taking his eyes off hers. He stood next to the bed, unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it to where his jacket lay. He proceeded with his boots and then pants. Once he was fully undressed, he laid next to Romi. He propped himself on his arm and with the other caressed her stomach with his fingers. Her long, golden brown hair was sprawled on the pillow and he loved how it framed her delicate face. His hand came up to one of her breasts and he rubbed his thumb against her nipple making it erect. He brought his mouth down and flicked his tongue across it, the action caused her to suck in a breath. She looked at Jack with a cloudy lust in her eyes. He moved himself between her legs and held himself up with his hands. His dark hair with its many beads hanging down as he looked at her, and brought his face down to kiss her. It was passionate and gentle. Her arms were around his neck and she moved them down his back, feeling the ripples of his muscles contract beneath her touch. Her legs spread wider and he entered her slowly causing her to arch her chest against his. He began slow rhythmic thrusts and she followed his pace. Her legs went around him and her fingernails went into his back as she felt the urgency building inside her. His mouth claimed hers again as he maintained his rhythm. With one hand he held onto her hip as she lifted herself up to meet his thrusts. He could sense she was reaching her point and began to go faster. She moaned his name as she felt herself go over the edge, and by feeling her muscles contract against him he spilled himself inside her. He collapsed next to her and threw a protective arm around her waist. She looked at him sweetly. "I love you Jack."  
  
He framed her face with his hand as he replied. "I love ye too." He kissed her gently and got up off the bed. Romi turned on her side to watch him dress. Once he finished he came back to the bed and gave her one more kiss before he had to leave to return to his post as Captain.  
  
PLEASE READ AND REVIEW ALL! THANKS!! 


	4. A Storm Approaching

THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS! PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING! THEY LET ME KNOW IF YOU LIKE THE WAY THE STORY IS GOING!!  
  
Chapter 4 – A Storm Approaching  
  
Jack left the cabin and went back to the helm where Will was.  
  
"Thanks mate, I'll take it from 'ere." He was all smiles, but Will dismissed it.  
  
"You think this is going to be a quick mission?"  
  
"One can only hope Will." His eyes never leaving the horizon. Will nodded and left to find something else to do around the ship.  
  
After a few hours of sailing, Jack noticed in the distance that there was a storm approaching. It looked like a nasty one too. Jack frowned, this would only detain them longer and he wanted to get this mission over and done with. He called to his crew to get the ship ready for the storm.  
  
Celeste and Brennan came running up to Jack. "Daddy is there really a storm coming?"  
  
Jack scooped her up in his arms and gave her the telescope. "Yup, see off in the distance over there?"  
  
Her eyes got wide. "Yeah I see it. It looks so far away." She put the telescope down and Brennan grabbed it from her. "I want to see." Jack pointed him in the direction where to look. "Oh I see it now!"  
  
"It should arrive before nightfall, so I want you two in the cabin before it hits us savvy?"  
  
They both looked annoyed but answered at the same time with the same monotone voice. "Ok."  
  
Jack put Celeste down and they ran off to play outside while they still can. Romi appeared then with Angela. "How long before the storm arrives?" She asked as she snuggled into Jack's arm. It was getting a little cold as the winds were picking up.  
  
"It looks like 2 hours at the most. I told the kids to be inside before it reaches us." He looked at both of them. "Ye should go inside too. Don't want ye both to be gettin' in the way." He smiled at Romi who poked him in the ribs for that comment. "We're not children Jack, thank you very much."  
  
Angela laughed and crossed her arms. "Men, what is it with them? Will told me to stay indoors too."  
  
Jack laughed out loud. "Only lookin' out for our women, tha's all."  
  
"Mmhmm." Came their reply as they walked off together.  
  
After another hour of sailing the sky began to get dark with the clouds as it covered them like a gray sheet. The winds were now billowing through the black sails. The crew had the ship ready for anything. Jack wasn't worried about his ship, he knew it was strong. He only hoped the storm would pass quickly so they wouldn't have to waste any more time than necessary.  
  
Jack looked up and felt the first few drops of rain fall on his face. Will came up to him then. "Jack, Romi and Angela are in your cabin with the kids."  
  
"Good. Tell the crew to keep the sails up. I want to keep the ship sailing for as long as we can handle it. No sense wasting time."  
  
"Aye Jack, I'll let the others know." Will ran off to give the orders to the men. Jack stood at his helm with his hands on the wheel. The rain began to come down hard now and the winds were becoming quite a nuisance, making it hard to stand without holding on to something. Jack stood his ground firmly turning the wheel this way and that trying to keep his ship on course even as the waves began splashing with all their might against the hulls. The Black Pearl rocked back and forth. It was completely dark now with only the light of a few occasional bolts of lightning flashing through the sky. The only sounds were those of the waves, the rain and the thunder. The crew were drenched as they held the sails as firmly as they could. A few of them being knocked to the ground, every now and then, when a wave splashed on deck.  
  
Back in the cabin, Romi and Angela were sitting on the floor holding onto whatever they could get their hands on as the ship rocked back and forth violently at times. The kids were up playing around falling over and laughing every time the ship rocked. At one point when they were near the door, the wind blew it wide open. Celeste had a pirate doll her dad had given her and the wind knocked it out of her hands and out onto the deck. Romi was trying to get up to close the door, but Celeste ran out into the storm to fetch her beloved doll. "Celeste!!! Come back here!" Romi ran out after her.  
  
Angela tried to stand to get to the door, Brennan came up to her to lend her a hand. "Brennan, go sit against the wall and don't move understand?" She said as she held onto his shoulders. He nodded his answer and did as he was told. Angela walked to the doorway and stood there to see if she could locate Celeste or Romi.  
  
The doll was being dragged by the water on the deck and came close to the railing before Celeste reached it, she was on her knees to keep herself from falling down. Romi tried to get to her but a wave smacking against the ship made her fall over against the cold and wet wooden boards of the ship. She let out a scream and Jack turned his head to see what was going on. He saw Romi on the floor trying to get up and looked in the direction she was staring at. His heart almost stopped beating as she saw his little girl terrified clutching the doll he gave her. Before he could begin breathing again, an enormous wave crashed onto the deck. Knocking many of the crew over, Jack had to keep himself steady by holding onto the wheel. The wave subsided back into the ocean and he looked in the direction where Celeste had been and saw she was gone. Romi was screaming as she ran as best as she could to the railing. He ran over to her and looked down at the ocean to see if he could see her. Panic filled his face when he didn't locate her. Suddenly he saw her little form bobbing in and out of the water trying to keep herself up and without thinking he threw off his jacket and dove into the water. All Romi could do was watch helplessly. Will ran over to the edge and called for the crew to get a rope ready to throw out.  
  
Jack emerged from the water and looked about frantically, he saw her and quickly swam over to her. She had begun to sink lifelessly into the water, having swallowed a lot of water. Jack took a deep breath and dived under the ocean. He swam to her and grabbed her in his arms, he came up to the surface and waved his arm about. Will threw out the rope. He had tied a small barrel to the end so it would float and Jack could get a better handle on it.  
  
With Celeste lying limp in his arms he made his way to the barrel and pulled on the rope. The crew yanked them up the side of the ship, at times slipping every time a wave crashed onto the deck. Finally, having reached the deck, Jack ran to the cabin with his daughter, Romi followed close behind. Anamaria was at the helm so Will came to the cabin as well. Angela was still at the doorway and stood aside when she saw them coming. Jack entered and laid Celeste on the bed. She wasn't breathing. Romi was sobbing next to her. "Please Celeste wake up baby."  
  
Brennan was still on the floor with his hands against the wall. He was staring at Celeste and couldn't blink with the shock he felt seeing his friend lying there, not moving.  
  
Jack was trying everything he could to get her to breathe. He turned her over on her side and began smacking her back. Suddenly she started coughing and spitting out water. When she was done throwing up the water, Jack held her tightly against him. Romi placed her arms around her and Jack. The three of them were on the floor holding each other. Angela leaned against Will with tears in her eyes. He held her in his arms. They looked over to where Brennan was and saw he was still shaken up by everything that just happened. They went over to him and Will picked him up in his arms. The ship was still rocking back and forth and the rain had not let up. Will thought it best if Angela and Brennan went to their own cabin to leave Jack alone with his family. Even after they left the room, Jack held on to Celeste and Romi. Celeste was the first to speak.  
  
"I lost my doll." She said in a weak and faint voice. Jack smiled as he still held her to him. "It's ok darling. What's important is that ye're safe."  
  
"But you gave me that doll and I said I would always take care of it." Her face fell and tears came down. Jack's heart skipped a beat seeing how much something he gave her meant to her. "I'll get ye another one, don't worry."  
  
Romi was touched at how her daughter tried to be so responsible. "Dolls can be replaced baby, you can never be." Celeste looked at her mom and smiled. Romi brought her into her arms and she held her tight. She looked at Jack who had a tear coming out of the corner of his eye. She knew how hard it was to make such a fierce pirate as Jack Sparrow cry, and it moved her to see how greatly this had affected him. Romi stood up with Celeste in her arms and changed her into drier clothes. After she and Jack had done the same they decided to go to sleep. Anamaria and Will can take care of the helm for the night. The storm seemed to finally have settled. So after the three of them got into the bed and Jack had told Celeste a bedtime story, they fell asleep together with Celeste in the middle being held by her loving parents.  
  
HOPE YOU LIKED THIS CHAPTER, OF COURSE I'LL KNOW IF YOU DID BY READING AND REVIEWING!!! HINT HINT! 


	5. A Misunderstanding

Chapter 5 – A Misunderstanding  
  
When morning came, Jack opened his eyes and looked down at Romi and Celeste who were still asleep. The thought of almost losing his little girl still weighed on his mind. He felt somewhat responsible for what happened, wanting to keep the ship moving so that they didn't waste any time. Perhaps if he had been there with them, this wouldn't have happened. All this played out in his mind as he lay there staring at the ceiling. Romi was awake and saw that something was troubling Jack by the look on his face. And she knew why. "Jack it wasn't your fault."  
  
Startled out of the trance he was in, he looked at her then back at the ceiling. "I wasn't there to keep her safe, and if it wasn't for me wanting to keep going, this wouldn't have happened."  
  
Romi sighed. "Jack there was nothing you could have done. She ran out into the storm and everything happened so fast." He didn't say anything. Romi extended her arm to him and began stroking his face with the back of her fingers. He welcomed the touch and placed his hand on hers. With the movement on the bed, Celeste woke up, looked at her father and smiled. "Good morning daddy." She then looked at her mom. "Good morning mommy."  
  
Jack was overwhelmed by his emotions of just hearing her voice. Last night he thought he would never be able to hear her little voice again. "Good mornin' darlin'." He placed a kiss on her forehead. "Let's get up and go get some breakfast aye?"  
  
"Ok." Celeste rolled over Jack and out of bed. She rushed to her room to get dressed. Jack and Romi got up and dressed and walked out to the deck. The sun was now shining and the only traces of the storm were the water soaked wooden planks of the deck. Apparently the crew cleaned up any mess the storm left behind. Will rushed up to him suddenly.  
  
"Jack, the Pearl sustained some damage from last night, there are 2 small holes on the starboard side. I suggest we head into the nearest port to fix it up."  
  
"Alright, first port we get to, we'll drop anchor there."  
  
Celeste ran up to them, now changed into her clothes. "Hi Will, where's Brennan?"  
  
"I believe he's in the mess hall with his mother."  
  
"That's where we're going." She grabbed Jack's hand and started pulling him. "Come on daddy let's go." Jack laughed out loud at her persistence. They arrived at the mess hall and sat at the table with Angela and Brennan. Sal brought out the food for his captain and his family. Brennan began questioning Celeste. "Are you ok?"  
  
"Yeah I'm fine." She didn't really want to talk about what happened, so Brennan didn't push any further. "You want to go play when you're done eating?"  
  
Celeste looked at her parents for approval. Romi smiled at her. "Of course you can, but you have to finish your breakfast first."  
  
"Ok." And she quickly shoved food into her mouth, eating as fast as she could. When she was done she jumped up and ran with Brennan up the stairs.  
  
"So is she alright then?" Angela asked Romi.  
  
"Yes she's fine. Just shook us all up."  
  
"Brennan was so shocked over the whole thing, he cried last night when we got to our room. I think the sight of Celeste laying there like that frightened him."  
  
"Well thank God he seems fine now."  
  
"Yes he is. Well I'm going to go upstairs and help clean up anything that may be left." Angela excused herself and went upstairs leaving Jack and Romi alone in the mess hall.  
  
"Jack you've barely touched your food." Romi asked worriedly.  
  
"Not hungry I guess." He played around with the fork and stared at his plate. Romi looked down not knowing what else to say to him. She knew he was blaming himself for what happened to Celeste. They sat quietly, not touching their food. Jack finally looked up at Romi who was staring down deep in thought. He felt bad for ignoring her and behaving the way he was. "I'm sorry luv. I just don't know how to feel about this. This is all new to me. My whole life I've been a pirate. The only thing I've had to look after for is my ship and myself. Now I have a wife and daughter to look after and keep safe."  
  
Romi looked at him with concern in her eyes at what he was saying. She didn't quite know what to think about it. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I just don't know what to do anymore Romi."  
  
She had tears in her eyes now. "Don't worry about what else you have to do Jack Sparrow. At the next port you can just drop me and Celeste off and we won't be a burden for you anymore." With that said she got up not giving him a chance to speak and ran out of the room. Jack stayed in his chair baffled by what just happened. What did he say that caused her to react like that. Instead of getting up to go after her he sat there thinking.  
  
Angela saw Romi run crying into her room. Worried about what happened to her friend, she went over and knocked on the door. "Romi? It's Angie. Can I come in?" Sobbing was her only reply. She opened the door and peeked inside to see Romi lying on the bed still crying. She came in and shut the door and walked to the bed. "Honey are you alright?"  
  
"No. Jack said me and Celeste...." She was crying so hard she could barely speak.  
  
"Jack said what?"  
  
She sniffed a couple of times and tried again. "Jack said me and Celeste were a burden for him. That he never had to take care of anything else and now here we are." She began sobbing again. Angela sat on the bed next to her. "I'm sure he didn't mean that Romi. Jack loves you two so much."  
  
"If that were true, why didn't he come after me? He's still sitting there thinking about the days when all he cared about what this ship and drinking his precious rum all day getting drunk off his ass!"  
  
This stunned Angela. She knew Jack could be a bit of an egocentric but he would never wish Romi and Celeste to be out of his life. Or would he? Angela stayed in the room with Romi trying to comfort her. After a while she left to make sure the kids were all right. Romi sat there thinking to herself. The door creaked open suddenly and Jack stood there in the doorway.  
  
Romi looked away when she saw him.  
  
"I know ye're upset, and you have reason to be. I didn't mean what I said. It came out wrong." He just stood there. Romi looked up at him through her puffy eyes. "Then why didn't you come after me?"  
  
He didn't know what to say to that. "I just had to think."  
  
"Oh I see. You had to think. Well why don't you think somewhere else tonight, cause I don't want you in my bed."  
  
This hurt Jack. But it made him angry too. "Don't worry, I'll be out of ye're way." And with that said, he slammed the door shut. Romi fell back on the bed crying even harder than before.  
  
Jack went back to the mess hall and into the kitchen. He looked in the cupboards until he found what he was looking for. "Ah my trusty rum." He turned the bottle over in his hands and went into the mess hall. He sat down and began his drinking. When he finished that one, he went off to find another bottle and finished that one too.  
  
Evening came and Will wandered into the mess hall looking for his captain. He found him sitting on the chair seemingly asleep with his boots propped up on the table and his hat over his eyes. He saw 3 bottles of rum on the table. Two were empty and the third was halfway. Will shook his head at the sight of him like this. He hadn't seen him like this in several years.  
  
"Jack. Wake up." He shook his shoulder a little. Jack woke up startled and his feet fell off the table. "What?"  
  
"Jack you need to get up."  
  
"Ah Will my friend, come drink with me." He grabbed the bottle that wasn't empty and took a big swig of it.  
  
"Um no, I think I'll pass."  
  
"Suit yer'self then. More for me." He laughed out loud which made him look very silly. His head was bobbing back and forth and slurred as he tried to speak. "Ye know Will, I don't know what ever became of me. I was the most fearsome pirate that ever sailed the Caribbean. And now. Now I am j'est a prissy man with a wife and kid."  
  
Will had to hold back the urge to punch him. "Jack I know you're drunk and don't mean the things you're saying right now, so I'm going to just let it go. But I better never hear you say those things about Romi and especially about Celeste again. I suggest you sober up and go apologize to your wife." Will stood up and left him to be with his bottles of rum. Jack just sat back in his chair and finished the bottle, which he then threw at the wall smashing it to pieces.  
  
Little did they know that Brennan and Celeste heard everything. Celeste sat at the top of the stairs with tears falling down her rosy cheeks.  
  
Will reached the top of the stairs and was shocked to see them there. He sat next to Celeste. "Don't worry about what Jack said, Celeste. He's not feeling well today. He doesn't mean a thing he's said." Will put his arm around her. "Come on let's go to the helm, I'll let you take the wheel."  
  
Celeste jumped up and ran downstairs to face her father. He heard her come down the stairs and looked ashamed as he saw that she was crying.  
  
"I'm sorry I'm your daughter. I don't ever want to see you again. I hate you!" She ran back up the stairs and ran into her room slamming the door behind her.  
  
Will couldn't believe all this was happening. He stood up and went to the helm with Brennan.  
  
Romi heard Celeste in her room and she dried her tears before going in. Celeste was on her bed crying. Confused about what could be wrong she went and sat on the bed with her. "What's wrong baby?"  
  
"Daddy doesn't love me." She sobbed.  
  
"Why do you say that?" She asked with a bit of anger in her voice.  
  
"Cause I heard him say mean things about you and me."  
  
Romi was enraged. She didn't care that Jack had hurt her, but to have their daughter hear hateful things said about them was too much. She held Celeste tightly in her arms. "There, there now. Daddy didn't mean anything he said. He loves you very much."  
  
"Then why did he say those things?" She was clutching her mother so tight.  
  
"I don't know baby."  
  
TALK ABOUT DRAMA! WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT CHAPPIE! READ AND REVIEW FOLKS!! 


	6. A Little Surprise

Chapter 6 – A Little Surprise  
  
Jack awoke a few hours later. He was still in his chair in the mess hall and he had a terrible pain in his neck from slouching. He tried to sit up and work out the kink in his muscle. He groaned in pain though when he tried to stand and fell back down.  
  
"Serves you right." Will stood at the bottom of the stairs with his arms folded across his chest. He walked up to Jack and sat in the chair next to him. Jack could barely face him. He knew he acted foolishly and he was ashamed.  
  
"I apologize for my behavior Will. Don't know what got into me." He tried to smile sheepishly at him.  
  
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to Jack." He leaned back in his chair and neatly folded his arms again. "To tell you the truth, I don't know how you're going to face them. Especially Celeste. You mean the world to her and hearing you say those things about her and her mother, well, I just don't know. You have no idea how badly you hurt her."  
  
"I know! I know! Don't ye think this isn't killing me inside? I love that child with all my being." He slammed his fist on the table, aggravated at the whole situation.  
  
"Then what made you act the way you did? I mean, you have a beautiful wife that loves you, a daughter that holds you on a pedestal, and to top it all off you have the Pearl. What man wouldn't want to be in your position? And you almost threw it away in a moment of weakness." Will was now sitting up his chair leaning into the table.  
  
Jack was silent. Will figured he was too embarrassed to say anything judging by the look on his face as he stared at the floor.  
  
"How can I face 'em? I need time to think of what excuse I can give 'em. I'll j'est sleep in the crew's cabin tonight. Let 'er cool off. She said she didn't want me to be wit' 'er tonight anyway."  
  
"I can't say that I blame her." Will stood up to leave. "I hope by letting this "cool off," you're not making a mistake Jack. I'll see to the helm for the rest of the night, you don't look well." With that said he left Jack alone yet again in the mess hall.  
  
Jack sat there stroking his beard. His ego had been flaring as of late. Even now he thought to himself of why he should be apologizing. He was a pirate. Pirates don't apologize. He tried to shake that last comment off. He didn't know what he was thinking anymore. He was about to lose the two things that matter most to him and all he could think about was his bloody pride. He got up and left the mess hall. When he reached the deck he saw it was indeed nighttime. He must have been asleep for quite some time. He looked in the direction of his cabin. The door was shut and there was a light on in the window. He wanted to go over there so badly, but he thought it best if he let this day go by.  
  
The door suddenly opened and Angela stepped outside and shut the door. She saw Jack and stood there with a hurt expression on her face. She started to walk away and Jack called after her.  
  
"Angela. Wait."  
  
She stopped and stiffened her back before turning back to face him. "I have nothing to say to you Captain Sparrow." Her look was stern.  
  
"Please, are they alright?" He looked worried, but she didn't believe him.  
  
Angela walked straight at him as if she were on a mission and came right up into his face, even though she was much shorter than him, especially when he had his boots on, so she had to look up at him.  
  
"What would make you think I believe you actually care? Hmm?"  
  
He didn't answer her. His lips were tight and he tried to look away.  
  
"That's what I thought. You're a coward Jack Sparrow, that's all you are." She turned on her heel and left quickly.  
  
Jack stood there. It seemed he had no allies. Will and now Angela probably thought he was the lowest scum of the earth. Romi must think even less of him. He turned in the opposite direction and went to the crew's quarters. When he walked in, the whole room quieted down. They weren't accustomed to seeing their Captain come to their room late at night. Jack didn't say anything, he scanned the room for an open bed and made his way to it. He removed his jacket and his hat and lay down. There was whispering between the crew. They didn't know what to make of Jack sleeping here in their quarters. Not that it bothered them having him there, it just wasn't right that the Captain would take orders from a woman.  
  
Jack could hear the things they said and it made him even angrier. His face turned a beet red, partly because he felt embarrassed in front of his crew, but mostly because he let himself get to this point. He firmly stood up, grabbed his jacket and hat and left the quarters slamming the door behind him. The last thing he wanted was for his crew to lose respect for him. With heavy footsteps he arrived at his cabin and barged right in. The sudden noise alarmed Romi and Celeste, who were sitting on the bed while Romi braided her little girl's hair.  
  
"Jack what is wrong with you?"  
  
"What's wrong with me is that I am Captain of this ship and these quarters belong to me, I will not have ye tellin' me that I can't be in me own room. Savvy?" His yelling was frightening Celeste who had never seen this side of her father before. She held onto her mother who was now yelling back at Jack.  
  
"Forgive me. I don't know what I was thinking." She said sarcastically. "We'll be out of your way then."  
  
With that said, she picked up Celeste and left the room. Not even once looking at him as she passed him by the doorway. Jack slammed the door shut and threw his effects on the floor. Suddenly Romi came back in the room and shut the door with all her might. She stood there with her fists clenched at her sides.  
  
"I didn't want to make a scene in front of my daughter. I just came back here to tell you that you are a selfish pig. I never thought you would do this to me and let alone to Celeste. As far as I'm concerned Jack Sparrow, you are dead to me. It was one thing to hurt me, but what you did to her was unforgivable." She had tears streaming down her face and was trembling. Jack fought back the urge to go to her and hold her in his arms. His pride was holding him back. Instead he opened his big mouth. "What makes you think I care? I'm Captain Jack Sparrow! I'm a pirate! I don't need anyone."  
  
Romi came right up to him and smacked him square in the face. She felt a wave of dizziness overcome her but she steadied herself.  
  
"I hope I never have to lay eyes on you again Jack. Just stay away from me and stay away from Celeste. She doesn't need a drunk pirate of a father." With that said, she left the room in a huff, leaving him standing there. He was so angry he slammed his fist right into the wall leaving a huge hole.  
  
"Damn that woman!" He didn't need this kind of aggravation in his life. He shook off that last comment worried about what could happen if he thought like that. He sat on the bed with his head hanging down. He just wanted everything to be the way it was. He lay down on the bed and tried to sleep.  
  
Meanwhile, Romi was in Angela and Will's room with Celeste, who had fallen asleep already. Will was still at the helm and Angela was trying to calm down her friend.  
  
"I can't believe this is happening Angie. One day we're a happy family, the next day this happens." She was massaging her aching hand.  
  
"I just don't know what to say Romi. I never thought Jack would behave like this."  
  
"What am I supposed to say to Celeste? That her father doesn't want her anymore? How can I do that?"  
  
"Maybe he just needs time to think of what an ass he's been. He'll come around."  
  
"Arrogant fool. I always knew his ego would get the best of him, but I never expected this."  
  
"You know he still loves you both. He'll wise up."  
  
Romi looked down, not believing what Angela was trying to say.  
  
"You still love him right?" Romi looked up quickly at her.  
  
"Of course I do!" She stood up and began pacing the room. "How could I not? I am carrying his child again!" She stopped suddenly realizing what she just said and stared at Angela who had her eyes wide in disbelief. She stood up and hugged her.  
  
"Oh my goodness Romi! Why didn't you tell me? When did you know?"  
  
"I thought I was for about a month. I'm sure of it now." A tear fell down her cheek.  
  
"Are you going to tell Jack?"  
  
"No. He's already made it clear that me and Celeste are a burden to him. Knowing he is to have another child will only make matters worse."  
  
"But how are you going to hide it from him?"  
  
"I don't know, I was thinking of leaving at the next port, but I have to think of Celeste. I'm not going to wander around the streets of a town I don't know alone with a child."  
  
"Well, this mission is supposed to take two weeks right?" Romi nodded.  
  
"And another two or three weeks to make it back to Italy. So when we return, you could take some money from your father's treasure and get a nice cottage in Italy. I'm sure you won't be showing yet."  
  
"That's a good idea Angie." She smiled and hugged her friend. "I'm going to go with Celeste back to her room, we can sleep there." She picked up her sleeping child and left the cabin. Upon arriving to Celeste's room, she laid her down and fell asleep next to her daughter, with Jack just in the next room tossing and turning in his own bed.  
  
WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW? WILL ROMI LEAVE? WILL JACK BE LEFT ALONE?? WILL CELESTE BE LEFT FATHERLESS??? THESE QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN OUR NEXT EPISODE!! READ AND REVIEW!! 


	7. An Apology

Chapter 7 – An Apology  
  
The sun was starting to peek out and was now peering in through the window. Jack's eyes were wide as he lay in the bed staring at the ceiling. He was beginning to really think things over and after tossing and turning all night, he decided he had to confront Romi and apologize. To hell with his stupid pride. Everything up till now had been going just fine and he ruined it in a moment of weakness. He had no reason to behave the way he did. He spent all night remembering times like when he first met Romi in that Spanish bar. Their first night together in that tent. He remembered the day he married her and how beautiful she looked. It had been a small wedding held shortly after Will and Angela were married. In truth the only people in attendance were his crew, Will, Angela and the priest. Oh and the day Celeste was born. He couldn't remember ever being any happier than when he held his little girl in his arms for the first time.  
  
He sat up in the bed and looked at the door that connected Celeste's room to his. He thought about them sleeping just on the other side of the wall, yet they felt far away. He stood up, put on his coat and hat and left the room. Will was still at the helm and he looked very tired. Jack came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Go to bed mate, I'll take it from 'ere." He tried as best he could to give him a half smile. Will nodded and left to go to his room.  
  
Jack stood there with his hands on the wheel, every now and then he would glance towards the cabin where his wife and child were. It seemed they didn't want to come out, Angela or Sal would bring them plates of food and Brennan went into the cabin to play with Celeste. Angela it seemed had been ignoring him. Will, when he finally got up from his nap, was acting strangely around him as well. Even his crew was quieter than usual.  
  
As the sun was beginning to set, Jack heard a door open and he turned his head to see who it was. Sure enough Romi stepped out onto the deck and quietly closed the door. She was looking down but brought her gaze up to meet his. She stood there for a few seconds before she began walking towards the kitchen. Jack felt as though someone were squeezing the inside of his chest. He wanted so bad to go to her. But he would wait till tonight to see her.  
  
Romi came back onto the deck and quickly made her way into the cabin without looking at him. She shut the door and stood against it. Celeste and Brennan were sitting on the floor playing a game they made up. Romi quickly wiped a tear away with the back of her hand before moving away from the door.  
  
Celeste looked up at her mother. "Are you alright mama?"  
  
Romi looked at Celeste with surprise. She had never called her mama before. It seemed she never wanted to speak spanish even though she tried to teach her all the time.  
  
"I'm fine baby. Keep playing with Brennan. It's almost time for you to go to sleep. Brennan, your mom will come get you in a little bit."  
  
Brennan slumped his shoulders. "Aww, alright."  
  
The kids continued playing and Romi sat in the chair near the window with her back facing it. She decided to start sewing today to pass her time. So she sat in her chair and began the task. She wasn't sure what she was going to make yet. She remembered the day she realized she was pregnant with Celeste. She had started sewing at that time. By her third month, she had a dream that the baby was a little girl, she was so convinced she started sewing pink boots, sweaters and blankets. This time she decided she would choose a light green to start with since she wouldn't know what the sex of this baby was going to be.  
  
Jack stood at his helm, one hand on the wheel, the other stroking his beard. They would arrive at a nearby port hopefully by tomorrow morning so that they could fix the damage the storm had left on his ship. It would take at least two days to finish. This was yet another inconvenience. He happened to glance over to the window where Romi was sitting. He noticed she was doing something with her hands. Curiosity got the best of him.  
  
"Anamaria, come take the wheel please."  
  
She appeared quickly. "Aye captain." She took her post and Jack quietly made his way closer to the window. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed she was sewing. Odd, he thought to himself, last time she sewed anything was..... His eyes almost popped out of his head and his heart was beating a mile a minute.  
  
It couldn't be. Was she? A slow smile spread across his face but vanished quickly. If she was pregnant, he had just treated her terribly. He felt worse than ever now. He clutched at his chest with his hand. He could feel his heart aching.  
  
Angela turned the corner and stopped abruptly when she saw him. Jack walked quickly towards her and grabbed her by her arm as he led her to the other side of the deck.  
  
"Jack what's wrong with you? Where are you taking me?" She didn't know what to think about his peculiar behavior.  
  
He stopped suddenly and looked around to make sure no one was within hearing distance. He turned to face her with an anxious look.  
  
"Angela, please, ye must tell me if ye know."  
  
"Know what Jack?" Her eyebrows were furrowed.  
  
"Is Romi pregnant?"  
  
Angela's face turned white and she sighed heavily. Apparently this was all Jack needed to confirm his suspicion. He hugged Angela, happy to hear this news, but quickly remembered his present situation. He released her but held onto her shoulders tightly.  
  
"Will she see me? Could you please talk to 'er for me?"  
  
Angela could see he was worried and this made her feel better. He did love them, she knew it. And she knew he would come around soon enough.  
  
"I'll talk to her Jack, but don't upset her again. She's been through enough emotional turmoil and in her present condition it isn't healthy."  
  
"Of course, ye have my word." He placed his hand over his heart jokingly which made Angela give a little laugh.  
  
"Alright. I'll go talk to her right now and convince her to meet you in the meeting quarters. Go on get going." She shooed him away with her hands and he ran to the quarters all smiles. Angela shook her head as she walked to the cabin.  
  
She let herself in, the kids were still playing on the floor and Romi was busy with her sewing.  
  
"Oh finally I thought you were never coming back." Romi joked with her.  
  
"Brennan stay here with Celeste for a minute, but get your things ready to leave. Romi, can I talk to you outside?" She held the door open for her to follow. Romi looked at Angela questioningly but stood up and laid her sewing things down on the chair before leaving the room. Once outside, Angela shut the door.  
  
"Well, you want to tell me what this is about? Is everything alright?"  
  
"Sshh. Stop worrying so much and listen to me. Jack wants to talk to you."  
  
Romi's hands went flying in the air. "Oh no, I don't want to see him." Angela had to grab onto her hands to calm her down.  
  
"Please, he really wants to straighten everything out. For Celeste's sake and yours, please at least hear him out?" Angela pouted her lips to get her to cheer up. Romi sighed heavily and quirked an eyebrow at her.  
  
"Alright, alright. Where is he?"  
  
"He's in the meeting quarters. I'll put Celeste to bed before I leave."  
  
"Thank you Angie." She gave her friend a fierce hug before leaving.  
  
When she got to the quarters, she placed her hand on the handle and froze. She began to breath deeply and felt dizzy. She tried to straighten herself up and opened the door. Jack sat at the table and stood quickly when she came inside. He wasn't wearing his hat and had his tattered, red bandanna on. His coat was hanging on the chair. He came around the table and stopped in front of her. She stood in the doorway still breathing hard and as she looked in his eyes, everything began to spin and then darkness. Jack caught her before she could hit the floor.  
  
"Romi!" He fell to his knees with her in his arms.  
  
PLEASE OH PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!! 


	8. Someone New

Chapter 8 – Someone New  
  
When Romi awoke, she was laying on the floor of the meeting quarters with her head in Jack's lap. He was stroking her hair gently. She opened her eyes slowly and focused her vision on Jack looking down at her. A smile crept across his face when he saw she was going to be all right.  
  
"Ye gave me a bit of a fright there luv."  
  
She blinked a few times before responding. "What happened?"  
  
"I don't know, ye opened the door and down ye went. Been out for about 20 minutes or so."  
  
Romi took in a deep breath. She tried to sit up and had to grab onto Jack's arm to steady herself. "I'm sorry I frightened you. Not sure why that happened."  
  
Jack gave her a knowing grin. "I think I know why."  
  
Romi's eyes went wide. "How do you know? Did Angela say something to you?"  
  
"No. I saw ye knittin' by the window, and I remembered that the only time ye ever knitted before was when ye were pregnant with Celeste."  
  
"Is this why you wanted to talk to me Jack? Because you felt bad for me?"  
  
"Romi ye need to calm down luv. I already wanted to talk to ye to straighten things out before I even knew 'bout this." Jack lifted her chin up to meet his gaze. "I love ye, and I apologize for bein' such an ass. I don't know what came over me. Ye and Celeste mean everything to me."  
  
She stared into his deep brown eyes and threw her arms around his neck as she started to cry into his shoulder. "I was so scared Jack. I thought you didn't want me or Celeste anymore."  
  
"You two are the other only things that keep me goin'. I could never live without ye."  
  
They sat on the floor in each other's arms for some time before Jack finally stood up with her in his arms. He walked with her to their cabin and laid her on the bed. He lay next to her and put an arm over her as he pulled her into his embrace. "I never want to sleep without ye next to me again."  
  
Romi smiled contentedly and snuggled closer to him before she fell asleep.  
  
When morning came, Jack awoke in the same position he fell asleep in. He breathed a sigh of relief to feel Romi next to him. Sunlight filtered through the window settling across her skin in soft rainbow colors. Jack caressed her arm and she awoke with a smile on her face before she even opened her eyes. He propped himself up on his elbow and Romi moved onto her back to look up at him. "Sleep well?"  
  
A grin spread across his face. "Aye, I did. Thanks to ye."  
  
They heard Kenny shouting suddenly from his post. "Land ho!"  
  
Jack jumped out of bed and hurried to get dressed. "I'm going to go into whatever town we just arrived at and get some supplies. We may have to be here for 2 days to get those holes fixed. I'll be back soon luv." He bent over to give her a kiss and rushed out the door.  
  
He stepped out onto the deck and over to the railing to see the town. Great, he thought, it looks like they arrived in Cuba. He hoped he wouldn't encounter any problems with the government. Will joined him on deck. He still looked sleepy as he rubbed his eyes when he leaned against the rail. "So where are we?"  
  
"Looks like Cuba mate."  
  
"Cuba? Isn't there a war going on?"  
  
"Aye, it doesn't look like this port is being affected though. Let's just try to lay low to be safe."  
  
"Good idea."  
  
The ship made its way into the port and Jack began yelling out his orders. "Drop anchor you scabrous dogs! Bring this ship into port! Will and Kenny I want ye to come wit' me into the town to help me wit' some supplies."  
  
"Aye Captain." Came both their replies.  
  
The Pearl pulled into the port. Jack, Will and Kenny stepped of the ship and made their way into the town. Some people would stare at them but mostly everyone went about their business. After buying some fresh food for their voyage, they came to a supply store where they could purchase things such as rope, powder for their pistols and a few extra knives and swords. They went up with supplies in hand to pay for them and the gentleman who stood behind the counter cocked an eyebrow when he saw Jack. The man had black curly hair, a goatee, tanned skin and broad shoulders.  
  
"Are you Captain Jack Sparrow?" He had a slight hint of an accent.  
  
"Aye mate, in the flesh. Ye've heard of me?"  
  
"Of course! Who hasn't heard of you? Most fearsome pirate in the Caribbean."  
  
Jack gave the man a cocky grin. "And how is it that ye speak such good english mate?"  
  
"I've been all over the waters. Sailed to lots of different countries. The men I've sailed with have mostly been English so I guess my Spanish accent has somewhat faded."  
  
"I see. So you've sailed before aye?"  
  
"I have. And to tell you the truth I have been waiting for the day to meet you. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to sail with your crew."  
  
Jack squinted his eyes at him. "So you want to become a pirate?"  
  
"Very much so. That is if you'll allow me to join your crew."  
  
Jack looked over his shoulder at Will who just shrugged his shoulders at him.  
  
"What skills do ye have?"  
  
"Well besides sailing a ship, I'm an excellent swordsman. I also have carpentry skills."  
  
"Carpentry aye? We do have a bit of a problem right now. During a storm my ship was damaged and it has 2 small holes we need to tend to and right quick. How much would ye charge me to fix them?"  
  
"That shouldn't be a problem for me. And if you let me join your crew, I'll do it for free. What do you say?" He extended his hand out waiting for Jack to shake it.  
  
Jack looked him over one last time before taking his hand. "We have an accord mate. By the way, what's your name?"  
  
"Diego, sir. At your service."  
  
"Welcome to me crew Diego. This is Will Turner, me first mate, and this is Kenny."  
  
Will and Kenny shook his hand and after paying for the supplies, Diego told the owner of the shop he was leaving and followed Jack and the others back to the ship. As they walked down the street, they came across a man who was selling jewelry. He had necklaces and bracelets made out of stones, shells and other materials.  
  
Jack thought of Romi and Celeste and thought it to be a nice gesture to bring them something back. He stopped to see what the man had to sell. His eye caught a beautiful necklace made of black leather and a green precious stone hanging from it. The color reminded him of Romi's eyes. His sight then moved to another necklace that was made of several pieces of white shells and had a shark's tooth dangling in the middle. Celeste would love that. He grabbed them both and asked the man how much for the two.  
  
"Tres pedazos de plata." Came his reply.  
  
Jack quirked an eyebrow at him. "3 pieces? What say you to 2 pieces of silver? That's me final offer."  
  
The man furrowed his eyebrows at Jack. "Alright."  
  
Jack fished the two pieces of silver out of his pocket and handed them to the man who snatched them up quickly.  
  
The men kept walking and arrived at the Pearl. "Here she is mate. The grandest ship in the world." He looked at his ship with pride. Some of the crew were already busy working on the holes. Jack yelled up at them. "Mates, we have a new crew member, he'll be helpin' with the holes."  
  
The crew nodded at Diego who waved a hand at them. The four men walked up the plank and onto the deck of the Pearl. He heard Romi yelling at Angela asking where the kids were as she was walking onto the deck. She had her back turned to them.  
  
"Ah Diego, let me introduce ye to my wife. Luv come 'ere please."  
  
"Coming Jack."  
  
Jack walked up closer to her with Diego right behind him. Romi still had her back turned looking for the kids. "This is my wife, Romi." He said and as Romi turned around to face him she gasped.  
  
GASP! WHO'S THIS NEW MAN AND WHAT IS HE TO ROMI??? STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER AND PRETTY PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!! 


	9. Pleasure To Meet You

Chapter 9 – Pleasure To Meet You  
  
Romi's face had drained of all its color. Jack noticed how she suddenly became uneasy and squinted an eye at her. Diego had a surprised expression on his face as well. Neither one said a thing though.  
  
"Romi? Ye alright luv?"  
  
"Yes I'm fine, sorry. I just remembered something, that's all." She tried her best to put on a smile.  
  
Jack wasn't thoroughly convinced. "This is Diego, he will be joining the crew."  
  
He extended his hand and Romi hesitantly shook it. He placed a kiss on hers. "Pleasure to meet you Romi."  
  
His gaze was somewhat disturbing and Romi felt a bit queasy.  
  
Jack's gaze went from one to the other and decided he needed to break this up. He could see it was bothering Romi quite a bit.  
  
"Come Diego, why don't I show ye to the quarters ye'll be sharin' with my men. We can all talk later at dinner aye?"  
  
"Aye Captain, good idea." He nodded his goodbye to Romi as she stood there staring after him.  
  
Angela had been watching the whole thing unravel before her eyes and came up behind Romi. "What's he doing here?" The sudden noise behind her startled Romi out of her trance.  
  
"I don't know."   
  
"Are you going to tell Jack?"  
  
"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea."  
  
Angela let out a deep breath. "Well whatever you decide on, make sure it's the right decision." Angela left to make sure the kids were alright and Romi went back to her room.  
  
She was in her room pacing back and forth when Jack came in minutes later.  
  
"Want to tell me what that was all about back there?" He folded his arms in front of his chest waiting for her answer.  
  
"Nothing Jack. He just looked like someone I knew and it kind of startled me." She tried her best to keep a straight face. Jack wasn't buying it though. He knew her well enough that he could see she was disturbed by something. But considering everything they just went through and the fact that she was pregnant, he decided to drop it for now.  
  
"Alright then." He sat on the bed and motioned for her to sit with him and she did without a fuss.  
  
Jack brought Romi into his embrace and she felt much better. Then he suddenly remembered the necklace he bought her.  
  
"I almost forgot. I bought ye somethin'."  
  
Romi quirked an eyebrow at him. "Oh really?"  
  
"Aye close ye're eyes." Romi did as he asked and Jack took the trinket out of his pocket. He moved her hair off to the side as he slid it around her neck and clasped it on. Romi opened her eyes and looked down at the green gemstone.  
  
"Oh Jack it's beautiful!" She brought her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips. She got up to admire it in the mirror that hung on the wall. Jack grinned seeing how it brought her some happiness. "I bought one for Celeste too. Is she around? I want to give it to 'er."  
  
"Actually I haven't seen her all day. She's been out playing with Brennan."  
  
Jack stood up and made for the door. "I'll go find 'er." Romi nodded and Jack left the cabin.  
  
Out on the deck he could hear them laughing and it was coming from her room. He went over and opened the door. Celeste and Brennan were sitting on the floor playing a game they made up. As soon as Jack walked in, her smile faded and she just looked at him. Jack's face fell. His daughter never looked at him like that when he was with her before. Inside, he cursed himself.   
  
"Brennan, could you please wait outside so I can talk to Celeste?"  
  
Brennan looked at his friend for approval. Celeste silently nodded and Brennan got up and left the room. She stayed on the floor with her legs crossed. Jack noticed she wasn't wearing her bandanna. He went over and sat down on the floor next to her.  
  
"Celeste I'm deeply sorry about the things you heard me say. I never meant them."  
  
Celeste kept her face looking down at the wooden floor. "Then why did you say them?"  
  
Ah a child's manner of thinking. "I don't know. It was very foolish of me to ever even think those things. I swear on pain of death, I will never say those things again. Will ye ever forgive me?"  
  
Celeste looked at her father and he tried his best to look like he was pouting which made her giggle. "You promise? You really do love me and mommy?"  
  
"I promise. I love ye more than me own life."  
  
"And more than the Pearl?"  
  
Jack grinned. "Even more than the Pearl."  
  
Celeste cracked a smile, jumped up and flung her arms around Jack's neck. He held her tightly against him as he felt a wave of relief wash over him. "I got somethin' for ye."  
  
She pulled back and had her eyes open wide. "What is it?"  
  
"Ye have to close ye're eyes first."  
  
"Ok." She closed them and Jack stood up to put the necklace around her neck. "Ok go look in the mirror."  
  
She stood up and ran over to the mirror. "Wow, it's so pretty! What's this?"  
  
"That's a shark's tooth."  
  
Her eyes got even wider. "I'm never taking this off." She ran over to Jack to give him one more hug and ran out the door to show Brennan. Jack put his hands on his hips and sighed heavily. Celeste ran in again and grabbed her bandanna that was lying on the floor and ran back out. Jack laughed out loud and left the room.  
  
He went back out to the deck and looked over the railing to see how the holes were coming along. Diego was there now helping his crew. It seemed they almost had one completely patched up. Jack looked at him through squinted eyes, thinking to himself why this man caused his wife to react in such a way.  
  
Will came up behind him. "Is everything alright Jack? You look troubled."  
  
"Not sure mate. Romi acted very strangely when I introduced Diego to 'er."  
  
"Have you talked to her about it?"  
  
"Aye, she said it was nothing. That he just reminded 'er of someone. I decided to just let it go since she is pregnant and I didn't want to get 'er frustrated."  
  
"Romi's pregnant?"  
  
"Aye. Just found out today meself."  
  
"Well congratulations are in order then."  
  
"Thanks mate. But now this whole Diego thing has me worried. I'm not sure I should let 'im come along." He leaned his back against the railing.  
  
Will nodded understanding his friend's worries. He looked down where Diego was still busy fixing the holes. "He seems to be getting along with the crew just fine. And it looks like he really knows what he's doing."  
  
"Hmm." He stroked his beard as he thought about what to do.  
  
"But of course if you would feel better getting rid of him, it's entirely up to you, you are the captain after all."  
  
Jack looked at Will and breathed in deeply. "You're right mate. If he gets out of line, we'll get rid of 'im immediately."  
  
THANK YOU TO THOSE WHO TAKE THE TIME TO ACTUALLY REVIEW. IT'S FOR YOU I WRITE THESE CHAPTERS AND KEEP THIS STORY GOING!!!! 


	10. Traitorous Tongues

Chapter 10 – Traitorous Tongues  
  
It had been some time since the sun set. The first of the two holes had been patched up. The crew had their dinner and have now retreated to their quarters were they would play cards or just go right to sleep. Brennan and Celeste were asleep and Will and Angela were off alone walking along the deck.  
  
Jack and Romi were eating silently together in the mess hall. Usually they would talk about things that were going on during their day but tonight it was quiet. Romi would keep her head down looking at her plate occasionally looking at Jack and forcing a smile. He finally decided he needed to make her talk.  
  
"So how are ye feelin' luv? No more dizzy spells I hope." He cracked a wide smile as he tore a piece of bread in his mouth and began to chew.  
  
"Yes I'm fine thank you. I just have a lot on my mind what with the new baby and all, you know." She tried to give him a genuine smile but he could see right through it.  
  
"No I don't know actually. Ever since this Diego came on board ye've been acting strangely." She stared at her plate a little while longer playing with her food not wanting to answer him.  
  
Jack didn't want to make her upset and he could see she just didn't want to talk about it. But he felt hurt that she wouldn't open up and say what was bothering her.  
  
"I'm sorry luv. If ye don't want to say anything to me, that's fine. I'm sure in ye'r own time ye'll come to me. Let's get some sleep aye?"  
  
Romi could feel the tears in her eyes but she kept them at bay. She knew Jack was hurt that she didn't want to talk about this. But she needed to collect her thoughts first and she knew she would tell him. Eventually. She started to pick up the plates but Jack stopped her.  
  
"No luv, let Sal clean up. Come on." With that he picked her up as though she was light as a feather and carried her to their room.  
  
Diego was out on the deck leaning against the rails and watched them enter their cabin and shut the door. He cocked an eyebrow up as if in thought and then made his way to the crew's quarters.  
  
Once there he went to his bed and lay down. He could hear some of the crew nearby talking quietly amongst themselves.  
  
"I just think, the captain is getting' too soft what wit' the girl and the kid. We need a captain that only thinks 'bout his crew and his ship."  
  
"Aye, things haven't been the same since Sparrow got married."  
  
One of the pirates was not so keen on the current subject. "If I were ye, I'd watch my traitorous tongue before speakin' of such things. I don't agree wit' the wench and child meself, but Sparrow's crew is big and will defend 'im."  
  
The other two looked down in disgust. "He's right. Maybe we should j'est find another ship to join and leave the Pearl."  
  
Diego had been hearing the whole conversation. "Why should you leave the Pearl? I'm sure you've worked hard for the things that Captain Sparrow is enjoying right?"  
  
The other pirates looked at each other before answering him. "Aye we 'ave, but Jack's crew is big and if we get caught bein' traitors, he'll make us walk the plank for sure."  
  
"You're right. But if we were to find others that share the same thinking as you, wouldn't you want to get rid of Sparrow and take on a new Captain?"  
  
"Of course we would. But who would we make captain?"  
  
Diego smiled from ear to ear. "Me of course mates."  
  
The others squinted their eyes at him. "And why ye? We barely know ye."  
  
"Because I have some unfinished business with Sparrow's wife and I would want nothing more than to see him hang from a rope till he be dead." Diego's face suddenly contorted into something awful, so much so that the other pirates flinched at his evil grin.  
  
"Alright then mate, if ye can find a way to get rid of Sparrow, we'll follow ye."  
  
The four men shook hands and Diego lay back down on his dirty bed and closed his eyes.  
  
Romi lay in bed in their cabin with her eyes wide open. Jack had been asleep for some time now. She decided to get up and take a walk around deck and hope the fresh air would calm her down. She tried to get up as quietly as possible so as not to awaken Jack. She lifted herself off the bed and Jack let out a rather loud snore that startled her. She turned her head and saw he was still dead asleep. She grabbed her shawl and walked out of the cabin and made her way onto the deck she reached the bow of the ship and placed her arms on the railing. She stared out into the night and marveled at how many stars she could see. She suddenly felt a presence behind her and she looked to see it was Diego.  
  
"Having trouble sleeping?" He came up next to her and leaned against the railing.  
  
"Sort of. I thought the air would relax me." She felt uncomfortable in his presence and shivered lightly. He noticed this. "To relax you? You wouldn't be feeling nervous because of me now would you?"  
  
She looked at him. "Actually yes, you do make me nervous. What are you doing here?"  
  
He stared at her before replying. He forgot how beautiful she was. "I came to Cuba on a merchant ship. I had been sailing for many years and decided to just stay on land once we arrived here. I got tired of sailing for so long. But I saw Captain Sparrow and decided I wanted to go sailing with him, especially after hearing all the stories about what a great pirate he is. And so he let me join his crew."  
  
Romi looked at him with uncertainty. She wasn't sure if his intentions were honorable or not aboard the Pearl. Especially since she knew the things he was capable of.  
  
He could tell she was trying to analyze him. "I know what you must be thinking. And I am sorry for the things I did to you Romi. I can assure you I am a changed man. Those days are behind me. Can you ever forgive me?"  
  
He did look genuinely sorry, but Romi still held belief that he could not be trusted. "I accept your apology Diego."  
  
He extended his hand and she hesitantly took it. He placed a gentle kiss on her hand, looked up at her and smiled. "I hope you won't be nervous around me anymore."  
  
Romi felt flustered. She forgot how smooth he could be. "Diego, please remember that I am Jack's wife now. Our history together has long been forgotten."  
  
"I know. And you have nothing to worry about I assure you." He leaned back against the railing looking over the deck of the ship. "How long have you been with Jack?"  
  
Romi returned to looking out at the sea. "It has been over 8 years now. Our courtship was rather short and I had Celeste soon after we were married."  
  
"I see. I courted a girl on the ship I sailed out on. She was the daughter of the captain, just like you, except he wasn't a pirate." The last comment made her chuckle out loud.  
  
"What happened with her?"  
  
"I decided I didn't want to be married yet, it would just tie me down and I didn't want that."  
  
"So why did you court me if you never wanted to get married?" She looked at him waiting for his response and his honey brown eyes looked right back into hers.  
  
"You were different Romi. I loved you. I didn't love her in the same way."  
  
Romi felt uncomfortable talking about such things. And felt even more so realizing that she was not only staring at him, but that she was in her nightgown and the fabric was quite sheer. "I think I am going to go get a glass of water and get back to my cabin. I'll see you later Diego." She turned around and left. Diego stared in her direction. "I look forward to it."  
  
Jack was standing nearby and heard the whole conversation. He had awoken shortly after Romi left and had gotten up to find her. He arrived just in time to see Diego approach her. He decided to stand by and see what would happen and was not pleased with what he had heard. He felt furious but decided to go back to the cabin and see if Romi would finally confide in him with who Diego was to her. He reached his cabin and lay back down on the bed. He heard Romi come in. "Where were ye luv? I got worried." He had his arm resting on his forehead as he stared at the ceiling. It was dark and she couldn't really see his expression.  
  
"I was just getting some air and a glass of water. I'm sorry if I worried you." She removed her shawl and lay on the bed next to Jack. She turned over and gave him a light kiss before turning back on her side facing away from him. He looked at the back of her head struggling with himself over whether he should ask her about what had happened between her and Diego. "Is there anything else wrong ye want to talk to me about?"  
  
Romi shut her eyes wishing he would just go back to sleep. "No Jack. Everything is fine. We'll talk tomorrow alright?"  
  
Jack just kept staring at her, his anger increasing. He didn't reply. He just lay there looking at the ceiling. It was an hour or so before he finally fell asleep.  
  
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!! THANKS 


	11. Are You Jealous?

Chapter 11-Are You Jealous?  
  
Romi stood by the window in her cabin looking out. She was alone. The door opened suddenly and there in the doorway was Diego. She gave him a startled look and was confused as to why he was there. They spoke no words as he approached her and stood mere inches from her face. She lifted her face up to look into his eyes and he brought his lips down on hers. He was gentle at first, then he placed his hands on the back of her head to deepen the kiss. She was responsive to the kiss and felt as though her mind were clouded. He managed to push her closer to the bed without breaking their embrace and carefully laid her down. She had on a sheer white nightgown that didn't leave much to the imagination. He lay on top of her and continued the kissing. He moved down to her neck and she arched her head back giving him better access. His hand was caressing her breast and with his thumb stroked her nipple through the nightgown. She wanted the bothersome material off her and he obliged. He carefully and slowly lifted her nightgown and pulled it over her head. He then threw it on the floor and went back to exploring her body. His hands seemed to be all over her and she couldn't take it anymore. He could sense her want and began to undress himself. Once he was finished he lay back on top of her between her legs. She wrapped them around his waist and he entered her slowly. She arched her back and began to breathe faster. They were both sweating and they clung to each other as they both hit their peak. Romi thrashed her head from side to side and cried out his name as he collapsed on top of her. He moved to her side and looked into her eyes.  
  
"What do you think Jack will say when he finds out about this?"  
  
She came out of her trance. Jack! She forgot all about her husband. She felt ashamed. Suddenly the door flung open and Jack stood in the doorway.  
  
Romi's eyes flew open as she woke up and stood straight up in the bed as she let out a scream. She was sweating so much her nightgown was clinging to her body. She looked at Jack's side of the bed and saw he was gone. It was a dream. Thank God. But she felt so ashamed. She squeezed her hands against her eyes as she began to cry.  
  
Jack walked in having heard her screaming. He saw her crying on the bed and rushed to her side.  
  
"What's wrong luv? Are ye alright?" He held her in his arms and she laid her head against his chest. She just kept crying, almost uncontrollably. Jack was stroking her hair gently trying to calm her down. Romi's crying became quick little sobs as she was trying to catch her breath.  
  
"Sshh luv. Everything's alright." Jack was worried over what was wrong with her. She had been acting so strange lately.  
  
Romi still felt guilty because of the dream she had. She didn't even know how she was going to face Jack. She had to tell him about Diego so as to lift this weight off her shoulders. She straightened herself out and with downcast eyes looked in his direction.  
  
"Jack I have to talk to you."  
  
He knew she was finally going to open up to him and he felt relief. "Go on luv."  
  
She sighed out loud before beginning. "I knew Diego when I lived in Spain. He began courting me when I was 18. Everything was fine for a while but then he began to become violent even with me." She stopped to collect her thoughts. Jack felt his face become red. It infuriated him to think this man had hit her.  
  
"It wasn't until one time he had given me a black eye and Angela saw it. She reported him to the authorities and they decided to investigate him. They found out he was using information about the Spanish government and selling it to other countries. He was exiled from Spain and I never heard from him again. Till now."  
  
Jack didn't know what to say. All he wanted to do was find Diego and slit his throat. He flexed his neck before speaking. "Well that settles it then, he's not coming with us."  
  
"Oh no Jack, don't do that. He seems to have changed and I don't want him to think that I still hold a grudge against him. If he tries anything then you can do what you want. Ok?" She looked at him almost pleadingly. Jack's eyebrows were furrowed.  
  
"Alright, but one mistake and there's no tellin' what I'll do to 'im."  
  
Romi smiled at him. She felt protected whenever she was with Jack. Then she remembered the dream she had but quickly dismissed it. She had no control over what happens in her dreams. She stood up and wiped the tears from her face. Jack was still sitting on the bed and he pulled her towards him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his head against her stomach. Romi stroked his hair, and he wished he never had to let her go. He just wanted to stay in this moment forever. Romi felt a wave of nausea overcome her suddenly and she ripped herself away from Jack and out the door. She managed to make it to the railing and quickly flung her head over. Jack rushed out behind her. He saw her by the rail and cocked a grin. Oh the issues with pregnancy, he thought.  
  
He came up behind her and pulled her long, curly hair away from her face. When she was finished she laid her forehead on her arms trying to compose herself. "I'm sure I look deathly attractive right now." She managed to say with a smile.  
  
"Actually ye never looked lovelier." That response made her laugh out loud.  
  
Diego appeared suddenly. "He's right you know. You do look lovely." He handed her a glass of water, which Romi took gratefully. "Thank you."  
  
Jack glared at him before returning his attention back to Romi. "Will ye be alright luv?"  
  
Romi finished the water before replying. "Yes. I'll be fine. I think I'm going to go lie down for a while."  
  
Diego took the glass from her hand. "I'll be getting back to fixing the other hole. It should be finished by tonight Captain." He nodded at Jack and left.  
  
Jack stood staring at him before following Romi back to the room. She lay on the bed looking exhausted. It seemed the pregnancy finally began taking its toll on her.  
  
"I'll be out on the ship luv, if ye need anything just send for me. I'll tell Angela to come in and check on you in a little while."  
  
Romi didn't even lift her head when she replied to him. "Thank you Jack."  
  
Jack shut the door and walked out on deck checking on things. He spotted Will overlooking the crew who were fixing the hole and he sashayed over to him. "How are things comin' along mate?"  
  
"Everything is going great Jack. The hole will be patched up in no time. We can set sail as early as tomorrow morning."  
  
"Good." He rested his arms on the railing and seemed deep in thought. Will looked his friend over.  
  
"Are you alright Jack?"  
  
"I'm not sure mate. Romi told me about this Diego, that he had courted her a long time ago. She also told me that he hit her."  
  
Will was taken aback. "He did? And why aren't you getting rid of him?"  
  
Jack sighed out loud. "Romi told me not too. That he seems like he changed and she doesn't want to be the reason for him being thrown off the ship or some nonsense. I did tell her though that he messes up just once and I won't be held responsible for what I do to 'im."  
  
Will had a grin on his face now. "Jack, are you jealous?"  
  
His head shot up and he glared at Will. "There is nothing to be jealous about mate. He is a dirty scoundrel for ever hitting Romi, and I would want nothing more than to feed 'im to the sharks." His hands were flying in the air.  
  
Will laughed as he spoke. "Alright mate. Forget I said anything."  
  
Jack glared at him. "Eunuch."  
  
Will just shook his head. "Real mature Jack."  
  
They both looked at each other and laughed together. "Oh mate where's Angela? Romi's feeling sick and I would feel better if Angie kept an eye on her."  
  
"Ah, the pregnancy is finally sinking in aye? I'm not sure where she is, I'll go find her and tell her to go see Romi."  
  
"No mate I'll do it. Stay 'ere and keep watch on the progress of the hole. Let me know when it's done aye?"  
  
"No problem Jack."  
  
Jack turned around and left the deck to find Angela. He found her sitting at the stern of the ship. The kids were playing around and she was busy writing a letter. He approached her and she looked up startled since she was deep in thought. "Oh Jack, I didn't hear you."  
  
"Angela, could you please check on Romi. It would seem she's getting into those months were she's sick to her stomach."  
  
"Oh poor thing. No problem, I'll go finish my letter in her room so I can keep her company. You mind keeping an eye on the kids for a little while?"  
  
Jack looked at the kids playing around and realized it's been a long time since he took time out to play with his daughter. "Don't mind at all." He ran over to the kids and picked up Celeste in his arms and started flinging her in the air. He then put her down and did the same with Brennan. Angela just laughed at him and walked away to Romi's cabin.  
  
ROSES ARE RED, VIOLETS ARE BLUE, YOU ALL NEED TO READ AND REVIEW TOO! 


	12. That Damn Jealousy

Chapter 12-That Damn Jealousy

Angela knocked on the door to Romi's cabin but she heard no reply. She let herself in and saw Romi was fast asleep. She quietly walked over to the table and sat down to continue writing her letter she had started to her parents in Spain. She wanted to get it finished before tonight so that she could send it in Cuba.

When she was finally done she looked over to the bed and saw that Romi was still dead asleep. She decided to go find Will and see if he could send the letter for her. She found him still overlooking the crew patching up the hole. She came up beside him and put an arm around his waist, which startled him.

"Oh Angie, how are you sweetheart?" He gave her a kiss and pulled her into his arms. "I'm fine. Actually I was wondering if you could do me the favor of taking this letter into town and mailing it for me to my parents."

Will sighed out loud and looked over the railing again to see how the crew was progressing. He looked back at Angela and lifted an eyebrow at her. "Alright, I'd better go right now before it gets dark."

She could tell he didn't want to do it, but was grateful that he would go. "Thank you Will, it means a lot to me."

He gave her a half grin. "I know, it's why I'm doing it."

She gave him a long kiss to thank him. He grabbed the letter and yelled down to the crew. "I'm going into town for a short while, I'll be back as soon as I can but if there is any news before I return make sure to announce it to the Captain."

The crew nodded. "Aye Will."

He left quickly and Angela went to the kitchen to make herself something to eat. She decided to make something for Romi just in case she woke up and was hungry. She was probably gone for about 20 minutes and when she went back to the cabin she noticed the door was open. She walked in and saw Diego standing at the foot of her bed.

He turned around seemingly alarmed that someone came in, then tried to pass it off. "Angela, you frightened me. I just came in to see how Romi was doing."

Angela looked at him with no expression on her face. "Well as you can see she's fine." Diego nodded. He knew that he didn't sit well with her. "How have you been?"

Angela maintained her look. "Fine, thank you."

She placed hers and Romi's food on the table and turned back around with her arms folded as if waiting for him to leave. He got the point. "I'll be getting back to my work then." He began to walk out the door but stopped and turned back around to face Angela.

"I hope you understand, I only have the best intentions for Romi. I'm not the same person I used to be." Without waiting for a reply he turned on his heel and shut the door.

The noise caused Romi to awaken. She opened her eyes slowly and focused them on Angela. "Angie? What are you doing here?" She didn't lift her head since she still felt a bit woozy. "Jack asked me to look after you while he took care of things on the ship. I also got you something to eat if you'd like."

Romi's eyes wandered to the food on the table but she was definitely not hungry. She remembered her first pregnancy and that for the first 3 months she couldn't eat very much because she was sick to her stomach all the time. She hoped it wouldn't last that long this time around. "I'm not very hungry Angela but thank you for thinking of me."

Angela felt compassion for her friend. After all she had been there as well when she was pregnant with Brennan. "Alright, but at some point in time today you have to at least try and get something down ok?"

Romi nodded her head while maintaining her head on the pillow. Angela sat down to eat her lunch and the two talked for a while. She thought it best not to tell Romi about Diego's visit so as not to upset her.

Will returned to the ship rather quickly and Jack was now watching as the crew was finishing up the hole. Brennan and Celeste were in the background talking as they ate their lunch on the floor of the deck. Will came up next to Jack. "Hey Jack, I see they are just about finished."

"Aye. I want the crew to get things prepared to aweigh anchor in the morning."

"Aye Jack. Do you know if Angela is with Romi?"

"She is, I asked her to be with her since she's been feeling sick. I think I'm going to go see how she is mate."

"Alright, and please tell Angie that I sent out her letter."

"Sure." He turned around and walked to his cabin. When he came in he saw that Romi was asleep again and even Angela had fallen asleep in her chair. He gently shook her awake. "Angela. Come on now dear, wake up."

Angela opened her eyes quickly and looked at Jack. "Oh my, I can't believe I fell asleep." Jack just smiled. "Don't worry, Romi's still asleep. And Will has returned, said he sent out your letter already."

"Oh good. Will you be staying here then? I'm going to just go and take these dishes back to the kitchen and check up on the kids, alright?"

"Go ahead. I'll stay."

Angela left the room and Jack lay down next to Romi, he put his hat over his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

After what seemed like only minutes later, Jack awoke and saw that it was dark outside. He also noticed that Romi wasn't in the bed anymore nor in the room. He got up and walked outside onto the deck. He scanned the ship with his eyes then he heard giggling coming from the front of the ship. He set off in that direction and came to a halt when he saw Romi laughing with Diego. Alone.

Jack could feel the blood rush into his cheeks and the jealousy within him stirred. He stood there for a moment not knowing if he should interrupt them or just walk off. He decided he needed to break it up and made his way to them.

"Ah Romi, there ye are luv. Was lookin' all over for ye." He came up next to her and put his arm around her possessively then looked Diego straight in the eye, which made Romi feel a bit uneasy.

"Hi Jack. I didn't want to wake you, you looked so peaceful." She put her head on his shoulder and that made Jack feel a little better.

"Captain, the hole has been patched up. Will said we'd be sailing in the morning then?"

"Aye we will." Jack still held his gaze on him. Diego decided this was the time to make his exit. "Right well, I'll be getting to bed then. Good night." He managed to slip Romi a wink without Jack noticing.

"Good night." Romi turned to face Jack. "Jack I do wish you'd be a little nicer to him. I Don't understand why consider him to be a threat."

"How could ye not? He finds ye and strikes up a conversation and ye think he's bein' honorable?"

"Jack, you have to stop behaving like a child. He hasn't done one wrong thing so far. He's very respectful to you and helped fix the ship. What more do you want from him?"

"I want 'im to leave the ship."

Romi felt exasperated. She gave one last sigh as she looked at her husband and left him standing there alone. She decided to go back to sleep. At least she didn't have to deal with anything while asleep. Jack, after standing there trying to compose himself, went back to the cabin, and called it a night.

READ AND REVIEW PLEASE! THANKS TO THOSE WHO DO! :)


	13. A Terrible Accident

Chapter 13-A Terrible Accident

The Black Pearl had already made its way into the ocean. Jack stood at the helm staring out at the blue sea. The sky was overcast and it was raining lightly. Jack's mood was about the same as the weather. He felt uneasy about Diego being on the ship. He just couldn't wait to catch him in the act of something so it would give him reason to throw him overboard.

Will was on deck busy fixing some chainplates that had come loose. Diego was watching him intently and as soon as Will was finished, he made his way to the chainplates and made some modifications of his own. He worked quickly and left to go to the mess hall with the other crew. He went to the far side of the table and sat with the pirates he had been talking to the day before. They were curious to know what Diego had up his sleeve. Sal came in and plopped a plate of food down in front of him before going back to the kitchen.

"So what are ye goin' to do 'bout Sparrow?"

Diego looked down at his food. "Patience gentlemen. I have my own way of doing things and they must be done slowly. One wrong move and we'll all be walking the plank. I may need you in the next couple of days. I do have your full cooperation right?" He looked the three of them in the eye.

"Aye." Came their replies.

"Good. I would hate to think that any of you would betray me." He started eating his food now quietly.

The others returned to their own plate of food. They were thinking about what this man could be capable of. They could see the hatred in him and were too scared to even ask what it stemmed from. Nonetheless, they were in it now and they knew that they couldn't go back.

Later on that day, the winds were picking up. Jack was still at the wheel. He hadn't left his post all day. He did finally decide to go have dinner with Romi. She herself had been cooped up in the cabin all day still feeling sick. He called to the nearest crew member.

"John, come over and take the wheel." The young pirate did as he was told. He must have been somewhere in his mid-twenties but had sailed with Jack for 2 years now. He took his post and Jack went to his cabin.

He walked in and Romi was sitting up in her bed knitting again. She looked up at him when he opened the door. "'Ello luv. Still feelin' sick?" He closed the door behind him.

"Not as much as I was earlier. I do still feel quite tired."

"Why don't ye come wit' me and have some dinner?" Romi looked up at him and saw that his eyes looked tired. She smiled at him. "Of course I will." She set down her knitting and stood up. She put her arm through Jack's and together they left the cabin. When they arrived at the mess hall it was completely empty. They sat down and Sal automatically came out with 2 plates as if he knew they were going to be there tonight. He set them down and walked back to the kitchen. Jack and Romi sat there eating and talking like they usually do. Romi was not eating very much since she still felt nauseous, but enjoyed Jack's company nonetheless. There was a sudden loud noise like something crashed against the ship's deck. Jack stood quickly and ran out onto the deck. He looked to the helm and saw that the headsail had crashed down. Jack came closer to inspect and saw that under the sail, John had been crushed to death. His eyes widened in disbelief. He heard the crew running up to the deck till they all surrounded the area. Diego was among them, his eyes narrowed. There were gasps coming from everyone when they saw the body. Romi came up to the deck and clasped her hand around her mouth. The sight was gruesome.

Diego came up next to her and offered her a handkerchief, which she took quickly and covered her eyes that were starting to tear. Romi felt nauseated again. She ran to the railing and threw her head over. Jack was still in shock, but he ordered some of the crew to help him lift the sail off John. Will was standing by and he had left to get a blanket to cover up John's body.  
  
Diego went over to Romi and began rubbing her back. "Poor guy. I can't believe something like this happened to him. Are you going to be ok Romi?"  
  
Romi was holding her hair off to the side and was breathing in short spurts. "Yes I'll be fine, it was just a terrible thing to see. John was a very nice man."

Jack was looking over the sail to see what could have gone wrong. He reached the chainplates and noticed they were considerably loose. The winds were strong but not enough to loosen them. He remembered that Will was working on them and he called him over. Will appeared quickly."What is it Jack?"  
  
Jack gave a sigh before speaking. "Will, weren't you fixin' these earlier today?"  
  
Will furrowed his eyebrows. "Aye Jack I was. I tightened them actually because they were a bit loose."  
  
"Well look at how loose they are now mate."  
  
Will bent down and inspected them. "I don't understand? I made sure they were on tight Jack, I swear."  
  
"I'm not blamin' ye Will, I just don't understand how they could have come off like that." He looked back over to the helm. "To think that could've been me in his place."  
  
Will looked back over to the helm as well. "I am deeply sorry Jack. Perhaps I should have checked them better. I can't help but feel this was my fault.""Nay Will. This wasn't ye're fault. It could have happened to anyone. Now let's get this fixed. We'll be able to continue sailing without the head sail in place but considerably slower. Damn mission. So many things 'ave been goin' wrong since we started.""I agree. But with the help of the crew we'll get this sail back up in no time. At least the ship's wheel wasn't hit."Jack stood up and looked around for Romi. He saw her at the railing still bent over and Diego was rubbing her back. Jack could feel the blood boil in his veins. He marched right over to where they were and without even looking at Diego, picked up Romi and made off with her in his arms."Jack what are you doing?" She looked at him quizzically as she placed her arms around his neck."I just want to be alone wit' ye that's all luv." He tried his best to smile without showing his teeth since he had them clenched so hard, he thought for sure he was going to break them off.Romi put her head on his shoulder. She knew he was upset about what happened to John. She didn't think though, that this had anything to do with Diego. Jack walked quickly to their room and shut the door.Diego stood there watching them leave. He knew Jack was jealous of him. And it made him even happier to think he made him mad just now. That accident was supposed to be for him, he thought. But no matter. He will have other opportunities to get Jack. He smiled mischievously and walked off to help the crew fix the damage. Will had been watching Diego and saw how he had been staring at Jack and Romi. Will decided that he needed to keep a watch on Diego. Obviously there was more to this man than meets the eye.AS USUAL READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!! 


	14. A Scary Tale

Chapter 14-A Scary Tale

The next week came and went without any more accidents. Diego had noticed that Will was looking over his shoulder every chance he got so he made sure not to look suspicious around him. They were still about a week away from Fantasma, so he knew he still had plenty of time.

Will had decided not to tell Jack anything on Diego unless he gave him reason to. He knew Jack had a strong dislike for him so he thought it best not to rile him up even more, especially when he didn't really know anything yet about Diego.

It was bedtime for the kids and Jack was in Brennan's room with them telling a story. Celeste had asked about the island they were going to and found it fascinating that it might be haunted so she wanted her dad to tell them about Fantasma. Jack was sitting on the floor with the kids. Romi and Angela were sitting on the bed listening to Jack tell his tale. The lights were turned off and there was a candle he had lit in the middle of their little circle on the floor. The flicker of the candle highlighted Jack's face in an evil way, making the story even scarier to tell. Celeste and Brennan had their eyes wide open and were listening intently, hanging on every word Jack said.

"And after the grand ship crashed against the island, the Italian princess got lost in the dark, black forest. She searched and searched for her way back but as she looked for the ship she heard voices." Jack held his head up as if he had just heard those voices himself. The kids looked around the room before settling their eyes back on Jack.

"Who was it Daddy? Where did those voices come from? Did they get her?" Celeste was visibly getting nervous. Romi couldn't help but stifle a laugh at her reaction.

"Sshh, I'm getting' to it." He acted as though he was about to start talking again then put a finger to his lips. "I forgot, where was I?"

The kids frustrated at the lack of progress in the story began yelling at him. "The princess was lost!" Said Celeste.

"And she heard voices." Brennan added.

"Ah yes. She looked to where the voices came from and saw a huge group of people, but there was somethin' different about them." He came in closer to their faces. "They had no legs." He whispered. The kid's eyes were about to pop out of their heads and Jack was holding back the laughter that threatened to end his story right there. But he had a finale all fixed up for them.

"The people saw her and they went after her. Sadly when mornin' came the people from the crew searched all over the island for their lost princess but they never found her. Now every time a ship passes close to that island they can hear a voice moaning in the wind calling for help." Jack looked around the room. "Do you hear that?"

The kid's backs straightened as they strained to hear something. Suddenly they heard what sounded like a voice coming from somewhere, even Romi and Angela stood straight up when they heard it. The voice seemed to be crying for help. Celeste and Brennan stood up quickly and ran to Jack who had stood up and was looking around for the voice. They had wrapped their arms around his legs so tightly he could barely walk. Suddenly from out of the closet jumped Will who gave a loud yell at them. The kids and the mothers screamed out loud and Jack was now on the floor rolling in laughter. The kids were still shaking but were mad at the current situation. Angela came up beside Will and whacked him upside his head.

"Ow. What was that for? It was Jack's idea." He tattled as he rubbed his head. Jack was still laughing so hard that tears were coming down his face. Romi and the kids had their arms crossed looking at him sternly, which made him laugh even louder. Watching him laugh like that made them finally break down and they all started laughing with him.

"Alright then Jack enough scaring the kids, and us for the night. The children need to go to sleep. Come on Celeste." Romi took her daughter's hand and walked out of the room. Jack finally stood up and since he was still in the mood took off his hat and pompously gave a bow before exiting Brennan's room. "Goodnight all."

Angela just shook her head. "Come on Brennan into bed." She then looked at Will. "And you. I'll get you eventually." She pointed a finger at him. Will looked around the room before pointing to himself.

"Me? It was Jack's idea."

"And you do everything Jack tells you to do?"

"Well he is the captain Angela." He said that last sentence quite sarcastically and before Angela could reach him he ran out of the room.

She gave one last sigh before kissing her son goodnight and returning to their room.

Romi had already put Celeste to bed and Jack had taken once last walk around the ship. He came to his room and as he walked in, Romi jumped out from behind the door causing him to curse loudly and fall back against the wall. He just stood there with his eyes wide watching Romi laugh hysterically.

"You're not the only one who knows how to give a good scare." She managed to whimper out between bouts of laughter.

Jack cocked an eyebrow and gave her a half grin. "So ye think ye're funny aye?"

He ran over to her and picked her up as she continued to laugh. He carried her to their bed and as he lay her down began to tickle her. "Jack stop, I can't take it anymore!"

After several minutes of this, they finally calmed down. Romi got into her nightgown and Jack took his boots and shirt off before slipping into bed.

Halfway through the night Jack woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. He decided to go out onto the deck and walk around. He was standing at the stern of the ship when one of his crew came up behind him. "Captn'? I need to tell ya somethin'."

Jack turned around to face him. "State ye're purpose Mr. Goodall." The pirate was one of the crew that had been conspiring against him with Diego. "I need to talk to ya 'bout Diego sir." Jack furrowed his eyebrows.

"Me along wit' some o' the other crew 'ave been joinin' wit' 'im. He wants to kill ye captn' and the accident from last week was meant for ye. I've wanted to get out o' it, but he threatened to kill me too. I know this is foolishness for 'im to be tryin' this, specially since ye're crew would die to save ye. Tha's why I'm 'ere."

Jack was beyond furious at this news. "Who else amongst my crew have dared to mutiny against me?"

The other pirate looked around seemingly scared to be found out.

Jack knew he was uncomfortable talking out in the open like this. "Come wit' me to the meetin' quarters, we can talk freely there." They left the deck together.

Meanwhile Diego had seen Jack leave his room and the moment he left he made his move and entered the room quietly. He got into the bed and began stroking Romi's hair to wake her up. It was dark in the room so they couldn't see much but Diego just felt his way around. He had put on a bandanna to match the one Jack wore. Romi stirred a bit and she turned over to face him before she could open her eyes he brought his mouth down on hers and began kissing her hungrily. He moved down to her neck. "Jack? What's the matter? Can't sleep?"

He didn't look up. "Sshh." Was all he said. Romi just laid back and thinking that this was indeed her husband let him do as he wished. He suddenly covered himself under the sheets.

He began to unbutton her nightgown quickly and took one of her breasts in his mouth. He was being very aggressive and it seemed odd to Romi that he would be behaving like this. "Jack calm down a little, you're being very rough."

He continued his ravaging and Romi was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. She couldn't quite place it, but this didn't seem at all like Jack. Her eyes were now adjusted to the darkness of the room and she lifted the sheets slightly to get a close look at him. When she saw who was under the covers she let out a blood curdling scream. Jack was just outside the door and had his hand on the handle when he heard Romi scream. He rushed in and saw her clutching the sheets and Diego getting out of the bed.

Jack couldn't believe what he was seeing. Suddenly the world stopped. There was no noise except for his heart beating wildly in his chest. He reached for his gun but remembered he didn't have it with him. Diego took his out quickly and pointed it at him.

He gave him a smirk. "I think I'd rather this bullet go where it would make the most damage." He turned it on Romi. And fired.

READ AND REVIEW PLEASE. THANKS!


	15. The Tragedy

Chapter 15 – The Tragedy

The sound of the gun going off was all Jack could hear. It hit Romi and she fell from the bed onto the floor. Within seconds Jack's crew appeared with their guns at the ready. Will came up behind Jack, who was so shocked at what he had just witnessed that all he could do was drop to his knees. Will saw Romi laying on the floor covered in blood. His hand came up to cover his mouth but his eyes looked towards Diego who just stood there with the pistol in his hand and an evil smirk on his face. Will straightened up and ordered the crew. "Arrest this man, remove any weapons he may have and take him down below to the cell."

Two crew members came in and arrested Diego, wrapping his wrists with thick rope. As they were about to leave the room Jack stood up and stared Diego in the face, who just looked back with nothing but evil contempt. Jack brought his hand back and hit Diego square in the face causing his nose to bleed. He just smiled back at Jack as they removed him from the quarters. Will stepped inside and bent down to check Romi. His head shot up suddenly, "Jack she's still breathing!"

Jack fell back to his knees next to Romi as he picked her up in his arms and held her close to him. Will was trying to inspect where the bullet hit her and found that it had entered her shoulder and came out the back. The wound was open and she was losing a lot of blood. Will grabbed Jack's hands and had him apply pressure to both sides of the wound. "I'll be right back, keep your hands right there till I return with some bandages."

Jack nodded his head and could feel tears stinging his eyes. This was his woman, his life, and he was about to lose her and he didn't know what he would do if that happened. He heard Angela come up behind him and gasp. "Is she alright Jack?"

"I don't know. Please just make sure Celeste doesn't see her like this." His voice was barely an audible whisper.

"Yes Jack, please let me know if I can do anything else." She left quickly to make sure that Celeste was still in her room.

Will reappeared quickly and began to clean the wound and bandage it as best he could. When he was done he helped Jack lay her back on the bed. "All we can do is hope for the best Jack. I'll be at the helm if you need anything."

"Thanks mate." Will left the cabin and Jack sat on the bed next to his wife. Her breathing was shallow and that frightened him. He closed his eyes and remembered when it was he in the same position so many years ago. She barely knew him and there she stayed at his side waiting for him to wake up. He knew then when he had awaken and saw her there by his side that he would never let her go, and he wasn't about to now. He opened his eyes and looked down at her and he picked up her hand in his. "I'm right 'ere luv, and I won't leave till you wake up." He picked up a towel that was by the bed and soaked it in some water that was in a nearby basin. He gently cleaned her face and neck. When he was done he lay down next to her and put his arm around her waist protectively. After quite some time he fell asleep.

When morning came Jack awoke to the knock at the door. He lifted his head and saw it was indeed daylight out. He stood up and went to open the door. Will and Angela were standing there. "Hello Jack, we just wanted to make sure that Romi was alright."

"Aye, she's still unconscious, but breathing." He walked from the door to the table and sat down. Will walked in after him and Angela went over to stand by Romi. Jack was visibly not well. They could tell he had not slept much. Will was worried for his friend. "Would you like me to have Sal bring you some breakfast?"

Jack shook his head. "No, I'm not hungry, but I would like for ye to keep a lookout on the ship and take over for me. I'm not leaving Romi till she wakes up."

"Aye Jack, of course."

"How much longer before we reach Fantasma?"

"About 2 weeks."

"Good, at least I won't have to worry 'bout much till then. Make sure Diego is being guarded day and night and go have a talk with Mr. Goodall, he gave me some disturbing news last night before all this happened. Told me 'bout some mutineers aboard me ship and I want them locked up along with Diego. When Romi wakes up, I will make sure they are taken care of properly."

Will stood quickly. "Aye Jack, I'll see to it immediately." And with that, Will left the room to find Mr. Goodall.

Angela still stood by Romi. "I'll go and tend to Brennan and Celeste. They were eating breakfast earlier and I had told her that mommy was sick and she couldn't come out."

"Thank ye Angela, ye're a good friend." Jack looked at her and gave her a half smile.

Angela returned the smile and left the room. Jack looked over to Romi. She had not even moved an inch. He sat at the table and sighed deeply. He remembered when he had been shot, he had awoken to hear her singing to him. That thought made him smile because whenever he's sick and not feeling right, she always sings to him. She sings to Celeste too whenever she's feeling sad or a lullaby when she's putting her to sleep. Jack decided to try something similar. He went over by the bed and sat next to her. He knew he couldn't sing so he began to talk to her.

"'Ello luv. I'm just going to sit 'ere and wait for ye to wake up and I'm not leavin' till ye do. I want ye to know that." He stroked her hair as he spoke to her

"Remember when we met? At that bar in Spain? When I saw ye I knew I had to meet ye. Now I had met some beautiful woman before, but never one as beautiful as ye. It was amazin' to see how we quickly fell for each other. I never thought I would marry. After all I am Captain Jack Sparrow, the most fearsome pirate to ever sail these waters. But that never impressed ye did it? Ye loved me for myself. For who I was when I wasn't Captain Jack Sparrow."

Jack furrowed his eyebrows when he saw that she wasn't moving still. "I know ye can hear me luv. And I know ye will wake up. I'll be right 'ere when ye do."

He bent down and kissed her forehead, then for the first time in a long time, Jack looked up and prayed.

SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, I WILL UPDATE MORE FREQUENTLY, I PROMISE JUST PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!! ;-)


	16. A Sudden Stop

Chapter 16 – A Sudden Stop

It had been over a full day now since Romi was shot, and still she did not awaken. Jack didn't sleep for fear that something may happen to her. He hadn't even seen Celeste, who was being taken care of by Angela. Will had come by to see Jack and told him that Celeste was worried about her mommy and that she wanted to see her. Jack told him that he didn't want Celeste to see her this way.

They were now about eleven days from reaching Fantasma. Jack decided that he would have Diego and the traitorous crew, walk the plank within the next two days. He just didn't have the strength to get it done right now, and besides he didn't want to leave Romi.

Jack placed his hand on her stomach and hoped that the baby was alright. He lay down and put a protective arm over her and without realizing it, fell asleep. When he awoke he saw it was now night time. He glanced at Romi and she was staring up at the ceiling. Jack felt a knot at his throat when he saw that she wasn't blinking. "Romi?"

She turned her head slowly to look at him and he sighed a breath of relief. He was overcome with joy and began kissing her face all over, but stopped when she made a groaning sound. "Sorry luv, forgot that ye're hurt."

"What happened?" Her mind suddenly raced back to what happened, remembering that Diego had turned the gun on her. She placed her hand on her stomach and closed her eyes. She was praying that her baby was fine.

"Diego is locked up in the cell below, tomorrow he's walkin' the plank, so ye don't need to be worryin' 'bout that scum any longer."

"How long have I been unconscious?" She asked, she still had her eyes closed.

"Almost 2 days. And Will is the one that bandaged ye'r arm."

Romi opened her eyes and looked down to her wound, it hurt tremendously but her arm itself felt numb. She did manage to wiggle her fingers though and was relieved that her arm wasn't paralyzed.

"Where's Celeste?"

"She's wit' Angela."

Romi nodded her head. "Ye hungry luv?" She nodded her head yet again. "I'll get Sal to bring ye something." He stood up and went to open the door, looked around and grabbed the first person he saw. "Mr. Smith, have Sal bring two plates of food to me room."

"Aye Captain." He rushed to the kitchen to relay the order.

Jack saw Will standing at the helm and called him over. "Will! Romi's awake!" Will looked over at Jack with a huge smile. "Anamaria! Come take the helm please!" As soon as she appeared, Will ran over to Jack's room and walked in. "Romi, I'm so happy that you're going to be alright."

"Thank you Will, Jack told me that you're the one that bandaged me up."

"Aye, that was me, course I know if I had been in you're situation, you would have done the same for me."

Angela suddenly burst through the door. "I thought I heard Jack say that you were awake."

Romi smiled upon seeing her friend. "Thanks for coming Angie."

"Of course. Celeste is dying to see you."

"Yes please bring her in later."

"Well she's asleep now, it's well past 11:00."

Romi looked out the window and gave a frown. "Oh."

Angela smiled, "I will be sure to bring her in first thing in the morning."

"Thanks Angie."

Sal appeared with 2 heaping plates of food and set them down on the table in the room. He looked over at Romi. "Glad ta see ye're goin' ta be fine Mrs. Sparrow."

"Thank you Sal. And thank you for dinner, it smells wonderful."

Sal nodded and left the room.

Will grabbed Angela by the hand. "Well we'll be heading back now and let you two eat. If there's anything you need just let us know."

Jack placed a hand on his friend's shoulder in gratitude before they left the room. Once Will and Angela left the room, Jack returned to the bed with one of the plates of food and tenderly began to feed Romi.

"Jack I have another hand free, you don't have to feed me like a child."

Jack smiled and shook his head. "Really woman, even when ye've been seriously injured ye still cannot let me help. Now ye're gonna sit there and enjoy the fact that I'm tryin' to take care of ye."

Romi cocked an eyebrow at him but decided to just let it go and let him take care of her, even though she hated feeling helpless.

After Jack finished feeding her, he began to eat his own food. After maybe two bites the Black Pearl began to shudder and suddenly it struck something hard. Jack was thrown onto the floor and his food went with him. "What the blazes is going on?!" The Pearl was not moving. Romi looked at him with a questioning look. He opened the door just in time to hear Will call out. "Land ho!"

The crew was running about frantically and Jack made his way to the side of the ship and saw that they indeed hit land. Will came up beside him. "Jack, it came out of nowhere, noone saw it coming."

Jack looked back at the island. There was a good amount of fog running through the land. He turned quickly. "Come with me Will to the quarters."

"Aye." Will was right behind Jack.

When they got to the quarters they searched the map and according to their coordinates, were not supposed to be anywhere near land.

"Jack, could it be this island is Fantasma? I know these are not the correct coordinates, but truly we don't really know where it is to begin with since it doesn't even appear on the map."

Jack looked up at Will with a furrowed brow. "We won't know till mornin' anyway Will. Won't do us any good to go out in that fog."

"I agree."

"Right then. Keep lookouts all over the ship till mornin' and when day breaks we'll search this island."

"Aye Jack. What about Diego and the others?"

Jack forgot about them with all the commotion going on. "We'll have to take care of them in the mornin' as well. We won't be able to have them walk them the plank but when we disembark the Pearl, they'll come with us. Have the crew get their pistols ready."

Will understood what they were to do with Diego and the mutinous crew. "Aye Jack."

Both men left the quarters. Will to carry out his captain's orders and Jack to see that the Pearl was in order.

Meanwhile in the cell below deck, Diego had picked the lock with a small knife he had hidden in his boot. The guard that was watching had left when they hit the island to see what was going on. They left the cell and were on their way up the stairs when they heard footsteps. They ran back down and hid behind the wall at then bottom of the stairs. It was the guard returning to his post and as soon as he reached the bottom, Diego jumped out and slit his throat with the knife.

He picked up the pistol that belonged to the guard and removed his sword. He gave the sword to one of the men and with the pistol in his hand they began to ascend the stairs once again.

Once they reached the top Diego looked about to see if anyone was nearby. Once he saw the coast was clear he came out onto the deck with his men right behind him. He heard someone approaching and they quickly hid. He saw who was coming and it was Angela. He jumped out and placed his arm around her neck and placed the pistol at her temple, but not before she had let out a scream. The deck was suddenly filled with pirates, Jack among them and his eyes widened at seeing Diego free, Will then ran out and saw was what going on, he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Angie!"

SO MUCH GOING ON!!! WE'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT WHEN I SEE SOME MORE REVIEWS!!! ;-)


	17. My Terms

Chapter 17: My Terms

Will felt bile rise in his throat at the sight before him. His wife was being held by a psychotic man who had shot Romi only days before, and now this same man had a pistol at her head.

Jack walked up calmly in front of Will facing Diego. "Diego, ye know ye'll never get away with this. With only three men and there's nowhere to run now."

Diego held a firm stare with Jack. "I see it differently Captain Sparrow. Knowing that I have Mrs. Turner will make you think twice about following me. And now that I am seemingly in control of the situation you will listen to my terms."

Jack was becoming quite irate at this point. He wanted nothing more than to pull his pistol out and shoot this man in the head, but he knew he couldn't risk Angela's life.

He replied with clear aggravation in his voice. "What terms did ye have in mind?"

"Firstly, neither you nor none of your men can follow us off this ship. I see we hit land and so we will stay on the island until morning comes. When it does I want you to leave one of your life boats on the beach on the other side of this island, but I don't want to see any of your men near that boat or I will kill her on the spot."

Jack was playing all this out in his head as Diego spoke and was even now forming a plan. "Is that all?"

Diego gave him an unsettling smile. "I know you have gold on this ship Sparrow. And though I know you have many chests to spare, I am not a greedy man, I want one chest of gold in that life boat. Once I see the boat and the gold, I will let Mrs. Turner here go free. But don't think I would be so foolish as to just let her go so that you can quickly come after me. She will stay on the beach in my sight until the boat makes it as far away as possible. I will have my pistol aimed at her pretty little head, until we are far enough away. Also I would like for my men to be armed so kindly have yours slide 3 pistols across the floor."

Jack could see that this man was not as foolish as he thought. He nodded at his men to do just that. "We will carry out ye'r terms, but ye had better not hurt one hair on her head Diego or so help me God."

"Or what Sparrow? You'll take care of me the way you did before I killed your wife?"

Jack remembered, Diego had no idea that Romi was alright, he decided it would be best to let him think she was dead.

"You have no idea what occurred between me and Romi do you? I'm sure she didn't tell you that I courted her for quite some time before I was vanished from Spain."

Jack still held his gaze, "Aye she told me. She also told me that ye liked hitting women. An obvious sign of a coward."

Diego's smile faded, but only for a moment. "A coward am I? Romi didn't think so when I came to her bed while you were away Sparrow. You came into the room when I had already left the bed. I don't think you knew that I had taken advantage of your wife in that time did you now Sparrow?"

Jack did not know, and now his face had become beet red, his fists were balled at his side and his breathing came in large huffs. Diego was obviously looking to get a reaction from him, and he got what he wanted. He was now looking at Jack with a very smug look on his face. He began to back away.

"Well, now that my terms have been discussed I will be leaving ."

He was backing away slowly and his men quickly made their way to the deck to lower the plank so that they could disembark the ship.

Diego was still facing them with Angela in his grasp. Will felt nothing but desperation to see his wife being dragged away from him, and all he could do was watch. He felt tears run down his cheek as Diego and the others left the ship and disappeared into the thick murky fog. He could no longer hold it in and suddenly let out a loud cry that traveled into the night and echoed across this grim island. Jack came over to help console his friend.

"Don't worry mate, we'll get Angela back and this will all be over."

"Jack I can't stand to just sit here and watch my wife being taken away from me with some madman holding a gun to her head. And this same man who obviously likes taking pleasure with other men's wives is going to be out there for several hours with her."

Will was becoming hysterical. "Mate, I understand how ye feel, but we can't go out there in this fog, we can't see where we're going and if he hears us he'll kill her for sure."

Will was not thinking rationally, but he knew he had to calm down.

Jack rounded up his men to meet in the chambers where they can talk and figure out a plan. But first he went to his room to make sure that Romi was alright.

He walked in and saw his wife sitting up as best as she could in the bed.

"Jack what happened? I heard Angela scream, is she alright?"

Jack lowered his head and stared at the floor as he answered her. "Diego escaped his cell and he has Angela as his captive."

Romi's eyes welled up with tears. "Jack you have to go find her, you have to save her Jack." Jack sat down beside her and held her in his arms.

"Don't ye worry luv, I'm going to get her back." He gave her a kiss on the forehead and stood up.

"I have to go now to meet with my men. Please luv, try to get some sleep, you have the baby to think about." Jack tried to give her a reassuring smile.

Romi took a deep breath and lay back down. Jack left the room and proceeded to the meeting chambers. His men were already there sitting around the large dark wooden table. Will was there but he was very quiet. Jack took his place and removed his hat. He placed his hands on the table and the crew immediately stopped talking and looked on to hear what their Captain had planned.

THANKS FOR EVERYONE THAT REVIEWS! KEEP THEM COMING!!


	18. A Foolish Decision

Chapter 18: A Foolish Decision

Diego and his small crew were trying to make their way through the fog that was so thick they couldn't see five feet in front of them. He had Angela by the arm as he pulled her alongside him. They all jumped when they heard a noise suddenly. Sounded almost like an unearthly scream from far away, but they dismissed it as just a wild animal from the island and pushed along. They were trying to find the other side of the island, but it seemed like they were walking around in circles. Diego was becoming furious. "Where the blazes are we?" He stopped suddenly and turned around to speak to the others.

"Let's just stop here and when day breaks and we have enough light to see where we are going, we'll continue."

Heshoved Angela on the dirt floor by a small tree and roped her hands behind her and around the tree so that she could not escape. They all lay on the damp and dirty ground and tried to fall asleep for a short while.

* * *

Meanwhile back on the Pearl, Jack and his crew were busy getting ready with their plan to get Angela back and deal with Diego. Jack had sent Will to his room to rest, he could see that the stress was taking it's toll. 

Will had tossed and turned thinking of his Angie with this crazed man, but after tossing and turning he fell into a restless sleep. He began to dreamof Angela and that he could see her far away but he could not reach her, he tried to run but it was useless. Suddenly in the dream she disappeared from sight and Will awoke in a startled state. Sweat was dripping from his forehead and poured off him as his shirt clung to his body. He dropped his head back on the bed and held his pillow firmly between his arms, wishing the pillow he squeezed was his dear Angie. Not being able to sleep, he got up, dressed, and left his room.

Jack decided to take a short break and went back to his room to see Romi. She was sitting up in bed and Jack could tell that she was crying. Her eyes were red and puffy and her face was flushed. He walked over to her side of the bed and did not say a word. He just sat down by her and held her in his arms. Romi gladly accepted his warm embrace, and while in his arms said a silent prayer for her friend.

Jack looked at her and gave her a tender yet passionate kiss that left Romi breathless. He got up walked to the doorway where he stopped to look back at her, gave her that infamous grin, though she could tell that the strong confidence it usually held wavered a bit, and placed his old tri-corner hat on his head. "I love you." He said, and promptly left the room.

Romi felt a little more at ease knowing that Jack would do everything in his power to save Angie. She tried to lie back down and get some sleep.

Jack walked to Will's room and knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked louder. Still nothing. He opened the door and looked around seeing that Will was indeed not there. Walking back to the deck, his crew were there awaiting him.

"Has anybody Will?"

"No Capt'." The rest of the men shook their heads.

Jack looked out towards the island and whispered to himself. "Will, what foolish thing have you done?"

* * *

Will walked as quietly as he could through the trees, being careful to not make a sound. He held his pistol tightly in his hands and his cutlass hung at his side. Every now and then he would hear a sound coming from all around him, his heart beating wildly against his chest for fear that the others heard him approaching. He walked on and as he looked ahead he could see a dim light in the distance, he squinted his eyes to see if he could better examine it, but it was not clear enough to make out. As he walked closer the light became brighter and brighter. When he was close enough to it, he could see the figure of a woman amidst the light. He knew it wasn't Angela and as he got closer he tried to speak to the woman. 

"Miss, please, have you seen some men carrying a lady through here?"

The figure did not answer.

"Please miss, I need to find my wife, she's been taken from me."

The woman still did not answer him. As Will got closer he noticed that the woman herself was radiating with the light, she was glowing, almost angelic looking. A sudden fear enveloped Will, but it quickly vanished as the figure motioned for him to follow her.

He did without a fuss figuring that if this being wanted to hurt him it would have done so already.

Jack stood at the deck wondering if he should go after Will or stay and wait till dawn to carry out their plan. He lowered his head and grated his teeth before looking back up to shout his orders to his men.

"Alright ye mangy cats, get all the pistols and swords ready we are to leave the Pearl at once to go find not only Angela, but now Will as well.


	19. The Rescue

Chapter 19: The Rescue

Will continued to follow the shadowy figure. The woman had long, flowing raven black hair that seemed to reach her waist . From what Will could see when he saw her, she was very beautiful. He was somewhat startled when she turned around and put her finger to her lips as though telling him to be silent. They were approaching people, Will could hear snoring. As he strained his neck to see if he could get a better view of who it was, he turned back and the woman was gone. He scrunched his eyebrows together and shook his head.

"_No one would believe me if I told them I saw a floating woman." _He thought to himself. As he stepped as quietly as he could towards the sounds of the snoring, he came into sight of the very people he was looking for. His face contorted when he saw Angela tied to a tree. He took a deep breath as he tried desperately to control himself. If it were up to him he would walk into the camp and kill each one of those filthy traitors. He began to move as stealth like as he possibly could around to the side where Angela was. He removed his cutlass from its sheath to have it ready not only to cut the rope that held Angie's hands, but just in case they heard him approaching. As he neared the tree, Angela through tears that had run its course down her face, saw her rescuer. It was all she could do from screaming out loud with joy and relief. Will caught her eyes with his and gave her a quick wink. As soon as he reached her, he bent down and began cutting the rope with his sword. The men began to stir and Will worked faster. As soon as they were cut Angie held her wrists and rubbed them from the pain the ropes had caused. One of the men woke up and yelled at his leader.

"Diego! Wake up!"

Diego sat up quickly and turned his head from side to side in a panic. He screamed out into the night when he saw Angela get up and run with Will. He jumped up and removed his pistol as the others did the same. They began to run in the direction where his previous hostage had run to. The fog that was there before had become thin throughout the night, making it easier to see through the thick forest. Suddenly they stopped running as it seemed they hit a wall. A wall made up of Will, the crew of the Black Pearl and Captain Jack Sparrow. All stood in a line staring at Diego and the mutinous crew before them, swords raised and pistols drawn.

Diego felt trapped. Jack walked in front of his men and stood between Diego and his men.

"Come on Diego. Me 'n you 'ave some unfinished business to take care of."

Diego took a deep breath, replaced his pistol in his holster and began walking towards Jack till he stood a few feet in front of his enemy. He spat on the ground next to Jack before speaking.

"Are you ready to die Sparrow and meet your wife in hell?"

Jack gave him his infamous half grin when he responded. "Ah yes. Ye still think Romi is dead aye? Well, I am glad to inform ye that she's alive and well. And waiting for her husband to return to her. Though ye will not be alive to see the happy reunion."

Diego grated his teeth and raised his cutlass in the air ready to charge at Jack. Jack was ready and waiting when he felt the first blow of cold steel strike his own. The battle was on and the men stood around these two men as they each fought with an obvious hate for each other.

Diego was so angry that he sometimes faltered on his feet, while Jack maintained his stance and was almost cat-like in his reflexes. He's been through enough fights to know how to hold in his emotions in a swordfight. He knew if he let his guard down, it would surely mean the end for Captain Jack Sparrow.

The two gladiators fought for what seemed like an eternity. Diego came at him again with his cutlass raised in the air, as it came down on Jack's sword they held them against each other. Cold steel against cold steel, crossed between these two men ready to kill one another. They stared at each other through the cross that their cutlass' made. Jack lifted a hand and punched him square in the face. Diego fell backwards and hit the ground right on his backside. Jack quickly brought the tip of his weapon so that it was directly in front of Diego's face. Both men were panting for breath, both had sweat beaded on their foreheads. Diego took one look into Jack's kohl rimmed eyes and knew he was beaten.

All Jack needed to do was bring forth the image he had in his mind of Diego creeping into his room and taking advantage of his wife. It was all he needed to raise his sword to the right and bring it down with enough force that it shaved Diego's head right off his body.

His men stood there in absolute awe of their captain. While the traitors stood there knowing that they were next to die. Jack stood between them, breathing heavily, and staring at his now fallen enemy. He turned around to stare at his mutinous crew. They quickly threw down their weapons with fear in their eyes. Jack did not speak. He walked back to his crew and gave them their orders.

"Gather their weapons and tie them up gents."

Four crewmembers did as they were told as they tied up the three men. Jack came up to Will then.

"Will, it was not a wise decision you made to come out 'ere all by your onesies."

Will lowered his head. "I know Jack. I'm sorry. But you would have done the same if you were in my situation."

Jack looked at his friend and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You're right mate."

He looked over at Angela who walked into Will's arms. "How did ye find her?"

Will looked up at his captain, trying to think of what to say. "Well…. A woman….helped me."

"A woman? Someone lives here on this island?"

"Well not living exactly." Will strained to think of a way to say this to Jack who was now clearly confused.

"Not exactly living? Will? Have ye been drinking my rum again?"

"Of course not Jack." He said to defend himself.

"Well then explain to me how a woman who is not exactly living helped you to find Angela?" Jack chuckled a bit. "What was she? A ghost?"

Will suddenly opened his eyes wide and swallowed hard. "Actually Jack….." He motioned for him to turn around.

Jack did and his own eyes opened wide in disbelief.

THERE YA GO A NEW CHAPTER! READ AND REVIEW EVERYONE!


	20. The Apparition

Chapter 20: The Apparition

As Jack stood there amidst his crew, his mouth partially open at the sight before him. His face was drained of all color as he looked upon a glowing apparition of a woman. She had long dark hair that waved in the air. Her eyes were sad. Jack couldn't seem to find his tongue, but it was Will that broke the silence.

"I told you Jack." Was all he could say as he too had his eyes fixated on the woman. All Jack could do was nod his head slowly.

Suddenly there was several distant and unearthly screams that seemed to come from all around them. The woman turned her head quickly almost in fright. The crew was definitely spooked as they looked about frantically. Jack, in all his journeys, had never dealt with anything quite like this, and was somewhat puzzled at the current situation. The woman looked at Jack dead in the eyes, and then lifted a pointed finger towards the middle of the forest and disappeared as quickly as she came.

Will looked at his captain. "Jack, I think she wants you to go there."

"It would appear so mate. Perhaps we should go."

"Jack, what about those screams we just heard? I'm not about to go gallivanting through some dark trees looking for God knows what just because some glowing dead woman tells us to!"

Jack turned his head to look at him. "Will, I myself have never been in such a situation, but I am not about to go running back to me ship with my tail between my legs. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy?" He cocked his eyebrow at Will as he said those words. "And besides, I still need to find that crown and after the hell we went through to even find this island, I'll be damned if we left empty handed."

Will sighed with a deep resignation. He had a bad feeling about this, but he wasn't about to argue with Jack in front of the crew. He turned towards the men and had four of them escort Angela back to the ship and watch over her and Romi. The rest would accompany him and Jack on this foolish errand.

After he kissed Angie goodbye, he unsheathed his sword as he walked up next to Jack who was idly staring at the direction in which the woman pointed at. His hand was stroking his beard as he was analyzing the situation. Finally noticing Will at his side he turned his head.

"Ah good, we should be off then. Ready yourselves gents, I have a feeling this will be quite a new adventure for us."

He readied himself with his own cutlass, and after taking a deep breath, began his journey into an unknown world. Thankfully the fog had thinned out with just enough around to intensify the strange look of the forest. The trail seemed to be almost outlined for them to follow, but the deeper they went, they darker it seemed to become. Jack's crew had brought three oil lamps with them and had enough oil in them to last about another hour. After that, they could only pray that the sun would begin to rise and give some illumination. The moon was full and gave some direction, but the trees were so thick that it was not enough to go by it alone. Every now and again, they would hear those screams that made their hairs stand on end, but they continued in utter silence. Jack would simply swallow hard every time he heard them, but pressed onward nonetheless.

After walking for what seemed like an eternity, they came across an opening within the trees that led to what seemed like the middle of the island. They were now in an open clearing of trees where they could see the full moon directly above them. The trees seemed to form a circle around them. One of the crew spoke up. "What now capt.'?"

Jack's eyes swayed from one end to the other. "I'm not sure. I don't see where the trail keeps….." Suddenly there was a horrendous scream and from out of nowhere in the very middle of those trees, there were several people all dressed in black cloaks. There was a shaved tree trunk stuck in the middle of the ground and a woman was tied to it. She looked very scared. As Jack looked on in horror, he took a good look at the woman tied to the tree and saw it was indeed the same floating apparition that had led him to where he now stood. He understood then that was he was looking at, was an even that happened in the past. The people that were hovering around her didn't seem to notice them being there. He couldn't see their faces and what was even more disturbing as it dawned on him, was that these people did not have legs. They seemed to be floating about this woman in some kind of ritual dance. Jack was horrified as he saw this scene unfold before his eyes. Will was in utter shock and the crew could do nothing more but just watch with jaws open. Jack ordered them to stay quiet and to be still. Something that was obviously not a problem. One of the black cloaked people stood directly in front of the woman and raised a strange almost jagged looking knife high in the air and as it came down upon her, she gave a curdling scream. The knife entered her with such a force that her blood splattered over everyone near her. Her head slowly bobbed down and her eyes were lifeless. The strange people looked upward and then vanished into thin air. It was dark again, and the moon was their only source of light now. The oil lamps were dimly lit and losing illumination fast.

Jack did not know what to make of what he had just witnessed. Will broke the silence being the first to speak. "What did we just see Jack?"

"I don't know mate. I don't know why we are here and why that woman wanted us to see that." As quickly as he ended his sentence the woman appeared again this time in her floating form directly above where she had been alive before. She suddenly began to disappear beneath the earth till she was gone again. Jack walked to where she had just been. After simply staring at the earth, he dropped to his knees and began to dig with his bare hands. Will came up next to him and started digging too. After a few feet of digging, they saw something sticking out of the dirt. Something shiny. Jack looked at Will before continuing to dig. After removing the dirt that was covering it, he looked upon what he had set out to this island to retrieve. The crown.

REVIEWS PEOPLE! I WANT TO SEE THEM! 


	21. Thank You

Chapter 21: Thank You

Jack held the crown in his hands and marveled at its beauty as he turned it over again and again. Will let out a sigh of relief thinking to himself, "it's finally over."

Jack stood up and looked toward his crew. "Gents. We finally got what we set out to find, and I wouldn't have been able to do it without me fine crew."

The pirates lifted their cutlass' in the air and began to cheer loudly but it was soon silenced as out of nowhere the same scene they had witnessed just moments before appeared in their very midst. Jack and Will were right by the trunk where the same girl was tied to, and there she was again. Those black cloaked apparitions were floating about in their same ritual dance. Jack and the rest of the crew were utterly confused. How could it be that the same scenario was re-playing yet again. The one with the knife stood before the girl and lifted his hands to bring the deadly weapon down on her, but before the blade reached its target, Jack threw himself in between the girl and her ghostly murderer. The knife went right through him, but the ghosts continued as though nothing had happened and disappeared the same way they did last time. Jack turned around and the girl that had been tied to the trunk before was standing there with a look of shock and relief. The ropes had fallen off and she looked….human.

Jack stepped over slowly and stood by Will and he whispered, "Will? Do you see the same thing I think I'm seeing?"

Will just nodded his head unable to speak. This has certainly been a long night for everyone involved.

The girl looked towards Jack and spoke. "Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome, but what exactly is it that I did?" He answered, more confused than he ever has been.

She smiled as she answered him, "For breaking the curse. I was killed here many years ago by the people that lived on this island. They kidnapped me from my ship and used me as a sacrifice. After they killed me, though, a terrible plague wiped out their entire village. But I remained cursed to live the same night they killed me over and over again. That is, until you saved me."

Jack's eyes were wide in disbelief as he listened to her story. He had seen many things in his lifetime that played with the boundaries of reality, but things like this never ceased to amaze him. The girl was turning to leave and Jack stopped her, "Wait! What's ye're name miss?"

She turned around and looked at him and with a smile on her face said, "Princess Doria."

With that, she turned again to leave and as she walked towards the trees a brilliant white light appeared and she was gone. Will and the crew looked towards Jack who stayed staring at the spot where the princess was just seconds ago. He finally turned around and with the crown firmly in his hands, began his trek back to the ship. "Let's get back to the Pearl mates, we have a crown that needs deliverin'." Before they could take one more step Jack saw in the trees what looked to be an old woman walking away and then disappear. He shrug it off thinking it must be his eyes playing tricks on him and he continued his path.

They all followed Jack back down the trail. The sun had begun to appear and they could see their way much better now. The oil for their lamps had long been gone. Each man's face showed how tired and bewildered they were, no thanks to the many events they endured during this long night. As they finally reached the Pearl and walked up the plank, his ears heard the most wonderful thing he could think of.

"Daddy!" Celeste ran into his arms and he lifted her up into the air and brought her back down to give her a big hug. As he cradled her against his chest, Angela and Brennan walked across the deck to greet Will who grabbed both of them in his arms and squeezed them both tightly. Jack set Celeste down and took her by the hand as he walked to his room. When he opened the door there was Romi sitting up in their bed, she smiled when she saw him enter the room. He just stood at the door with his little girl beside him.

"I heard Celeste call you and it woke me up." She swallowed hard trying to contain her emotions.

Jack gave her his infamous grin and it was all she needed to come undone. He walked to the bed and put his arms around her gently. He buried his face in her hair and inhaled her beautiful scent. Celeste stood at the door watching her parents. "Ew, you guys are going to get all lovey aren't you?" She started to turn and leave and with her back to them she had a smile on her face, looking very much like her father's, and she scurried off.

Jack lifted his head to look into his wife's hazel green eyes. They were filled with tears. "I was so scared that something happened to you."

"Luv, I'm Captain Jack Sparrow." He said with enough cockiness to bring a smile to her face. He brought his lips down and kissed her gently.

"Did you find the crown?"

He brought it up and placed it on her head. "Aye, of course I did. Now we just have to sail back to Italy and return it to the king where I will finally be excused of my piracy. And with the reward we'll be gettin', we won't have to worry about lootin' anymore."

Romi looked at him with utter disbelief on her face.

"Well, maybe no lootin' for a little while." He said as he laughed out loud.

Jack lay back in the bed with Romi in his arms and breathed a sigh of relief to know it was done and over with. They will set sail first thing tomorrow morning so his crew can get some rest for the long travel back to Italy.

READ AND REVIEW THANKS!


	22. Gratitude And Goodbye

Chapter 22: Gratitude And Goodbye

Two weeks went by much quicker this time on their return trip to Italy. Jack returned the crown to the very gracious King who in turn pardoned him of his past piracy and rewarded him with enough treasure that the whole crew could retire with. Of course just because they could, didn't mean they would. They were pirates after all and all the treasure in all the world would never satisfy their lust for looting, pillaging and the such. They would continue on their beloved ship, following their Captain who has never steered them wrong and always looked out for them. Even among pirates, they knew that even though they were scurvy, good for nothing thieves, they did have their honor to maintain.

Back on the ship, Romi had had one of her dreams about the baby. She dreamt it was a boy this time. They decided that they would name him Jack. Seemed appropriate. She thought the world would be very dull without a Jack Sparrow in it to keep the 'em on their toes.

Will and Angela decided to stay in Port Royale for a while. Will was going to open his own Blacksmith shop and he and Angela were going to try to extend their family.

Jack decided to return to Tortuga to visit the old woman that helped him in the first place and generously give her a small token of his gratitude with the reward he received. Of course, Romi was the one who had to talk him into doing it. A pirate would never give away any of his treasure to anyone other than his own crew, and those are the honest pirates who even do that.

When they arrived it was night, and the moon was full in the sky. Jack walked up the familiar street to the house where the old woman lived. As he got closer he noticed there weren't any lights on. 'Must be asleep.' He thought to himself, but decided to continue anyway since they were planning on leaving first thing in the morning and he wouldn't have another chance to see her. Jack walked up to the door and knocked lightly. There was no answer. He turned his head from one side to the other checking to see if he saw any movement, his beads clinking together each time. The house looked abandoned. He gave another knock but much louder this time. Still no one came to the door. Jack turned around and looked up the street. There was another house with a light in the window just down the path. He made his way to the doorstep and knocked. An older gentleman opened the door and peered at him through wrinkled eyes. "Aye? What do ye want?"

"Pardon the intrusion, I just arrived at the docks with the intention of seeing the old woman that lives in that house just there." Jack pointed in the direction of which he just came. The old man opened the door wider and stepped outside, looking to where Jack was pointing and squinted.

"Baaah, nobody lives in that house. House hasn't been lived in for at least ten years."

Jack looked at him in disbelief. "Sir, I was just here a little over a month ago and I assure you, there was an old woman there."

The old man stared at Jack for a moment. "Did ye say an old woman?" He rubbed his chin a bit as in deep thought. "There used to be a woman that lived there, but like I said, it was over ten years ago. She died from insanity. Was crazy, she was. Always talkin' 'bout ghosts and crazy talk like that. No one ever paid much attention to her."

Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are ye sure? I tell you I was just here not that long ago and she was there. Let me into her house, I sat on her chair, she had a fire going in the fireplace. It just can't be."

The man just shrugged his shoulders. "Ye must be mistaken. Perhaps it was another house ye went to."

"No, it was that same house." Jack stood there and thought for a moment. The old man was turning to go back into his home.

"Wait. Do you know anything about that woman? Where she came from?"

The man thought for a moment. "I believe she had said that she once worked for the royal family of Italy. Was the princess' maiden she said. Course we never believed her. When she came to Tortuga, she was already crazy. I heard she was banished here. Probably 'cause she was insane and ain't no where else in the world where she would be welcome. She was very secluded in that house." The old man turned to leave again and shut his door.

Jack stood there on his doorstep a little while longer feeling very baffled. He looked up at the bright moon and stared. Suddenly he remembered the old woman he saw back on the island. It did look a lot like the woman he was now searching for. But how could it be? Her spirit had helped him find the crown. Jack had seen crazier things so this was not out of the question. He also thought that she also had a hand in helping the princess be freed of her curse. Her own spirit would now be free as well.

Jack walked off the doorstep of the old man's house and walked back down the path through the bustling city of Tortuga. The path that would lead him back to his ship, his wife, his child and his freedom.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE STORY! AND AS ALWAYS READ AND REVIEW! THANKS TO EVERYONE!


End file.
